


The Hidden Lady of Time

by LizzeXX



Series: The Lunar Cycle [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Drama, Embedded Images, Eventual Romance, Evy plays at human, Friendship, Gallifrey, Links, Long Lost Family, Martha is a Star, Martha-Evy friendship, Mental Institutions, Mind Link, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Pre-Relationship, Rescue, Reunions, Series 3 rewrite, Soulmates, Telekinesis, The Doctor and Evy are Links, The Doctor is oblivious, The Doctor/Evy, The Last Great Time War, The Lunar Cycle, The Master Has Issues, Theta/Luna - Freeform, Thuna - Freeform, Time Travel, Torchwood - Freeform, Travel, doctor who - Freeform, linking, perception filter, space travel, time lady - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-06-26 08:49:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 111,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15659835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizzeXX/pseuds/LizzeXX
Summary: Evelyn Daniels has escaped the Time War, but been locked away, until Captain Jack and Torchwood rescue her and get her back with the Doctor. How will Martha cope with another woman onboard? What secrets is Evy hiding? Why does the Doctor think she's human?10/OCTime Lady





	1. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody! So, this is the second Doctor Who OC series I've written out (check out my first, the Acadmic Series, if you haven't!) and will involve a new OC/Time Lady. I wrote and posted this on FF.net and it seemed to do ok, so, after a long consideration, I thought I'd post some of my work here on AO3 too at least 1 chapter a day, just for fun.
> 
> At first, most of this story will follow my OC's POV, but since she can read the Doctor's mind we'll still have an idea of what is going on with him. As the story goes on, I might add more scenes that involve the Doctor's POV or even scenes where he or the OC are mentioned, we'll see.
> 
> This first chapter is an original chapter, most will follow the episodes, plugging this OC into the story, changing small details. Here we learn a bit more about the OC, just some background that will set the stage for what her character is like and her relationship/connection to the Doctor. Each episode will be broken up into two chapters except the Sarah Jane Adventures (of which I will be doing The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith and Death of the Doctor) and any original chapters I might add.
> 
> I really can't think of much more to say but that I hope you enjoy!
> 
> ~8~ is a scene break.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who...or I'd be living in Ireland right now and writing nonstop.

The members of Torchwood stood around a small table where Ianto was sitting, a red cone hat on his head courtesy of Jack, as they sang 'Happy Birthday' to their beloved Welsh colleague and friend. Ianto, for all his efforts, couldn't keep the faint grin off his face as they did so. He suspected he should have been embarrassed a bit at the show going on, but he'd never really been much for birthday celebrations in the past and decided to take the time to enjoy it from his friends.

He glanced up at the small gathering when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to see a flash of white moving. Before he could even blink it was gone. He frowned as he noticed the singing growing fainter as the image grew stronger. He eyed his friends but none of them seemed to have the slightest clue that there was something wrong. They all just laughed and smiled and stared at him expectantly. He tried to look at his cake but the flicker of white caught his eye again. He looked up to see something trying to push its way through his oblivious friends.

' _Help!_ ' it whispered quietly to him, reaching out a hand, a look of complete helplessness on their face.

It was a girl, he could tell as the image grew clearer. She was wearing a white hospital gown and nothing else. She had very dark brown hair, though he couldn't tell if it was natural or from how utterly dirty it looked. It was all sorts of unkempt and tangled. She was pale, no freckles that he could see, but with pale green eyes with a dark green rim around them. Her eyes were what captivated him, they were wild and frightened, begging him to do something, to help her.

But he couldn't move, only stare, as she finally managed to push her way past his friends who were now staring at him in concern.

' _Please!_ ' she begged, ' _Help me!_ '

She tripped and fell against the small table that held his cake and he jumped up, shocking himself out of whatever that was.

"Ianto!" Jack half shouted as he reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, "You alright?"

Ianto looked at him for a moment before glancing at the table and then his friends.

The girl was gone.

"I'm fine," he answered, sitting back down, "Just…thought I saw something for a moment…" he shook his head, trying to smile and reassure his friends, but didn't quite manage it. Instead he looked at the single candle flickering on his cake before shutting his eyes and making a wish.

_I wish I knew what that was…_

~8~

Had the birthday cake incident been the only time he saw the girl, Ianto would have been a very happy man. Unfortunately that was not the case. Ever since that day, his sleep had been plagued with nightmares of the girl, stuck in a small dark room, calling for his help. He'd jumped awake plenty of times since then.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" he asked Jack as they sat by Jack's desk, sipping coffee and tea.

"No," was Jack's simple reply.

Ianto glanced at him, "Feels like I am."

"With all the things we've seen, maybe it really  _is_  someone calling out for help."

"But why me?" he sounded weary, defeated, the sleepless nights were really starting to take their toll on him.

"I don't know," Jack shook his head, "There could be a whole…"

' _Please…_ ' a voice whispered.

Ianto jerked up as he turned to look at the corner of the room, only to see the girl sitting there, braced against the wall.

"What is it?" Jack asked, noticing Ianto's focus on the corner, "Is it her?"

He nodded before getting up and cautiously making his way to the girl. He knelt down, Jack standing behind him, and reached out.

His hand went right through her.

"Who are you?"

She stared at him, tears welling in her eyes and just shook her head. She couldn't say.

"What do you want?" he tried instead.

' _Help me,_ ' she begged.

"How?"

Her head jerked to the side as though she'd heard something, but there was silence, ' _They're coming,_ ' she whispered, ' _Please, get me out!_ '

"Where are you?"

She twisted her body a bit so he could see her shoulder. It was then that he realized she was wearing a straight jacket. He could see an emblem sewn into the back of the jacket just before she was pulled back through the wall and disappeared.

He quickly stood and rushed out of the office and down the stairs. "Tosh!" he called to the girl sitting at the computer, "I need you to find someone for me."

"Sure," she replied, looking a little concerned for him, she eyed Jack who just shrugged, "You got a name?"

He shook his head, "No, but I've got a place. The Mason Institute."

"O…K…" Tosh began typing into the computer, searching their database for anything they might have on it, "A mental institute? What do you need that for?"

"I need you to find a patient," he explained, "A girl, probably early to mid 30s…brunette…that's really it."

"Wow Ianto, way to give me something to work with," Tosh rolled her eyes but went to work nevertheless. She managed to hack into their records and quickly went through the files she could find on the women of the institute.

Ianto's eyes scanned the files as fast as he could until finally, "Stop!" he shouted, "That's her!"

Jack leaned in to see what the file read but didn't have to look much as Tosh turned a skeptic eye to Ianto, "According to her file, she suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder, hallucinations, and the occasional catatonia. What about her?"

"We need to get her," Ianto said, ignoring her to turn to Jack, "Please, she needs our help."

"The Mason Institute, huh?" Jack asked, squinting as he looked at its location, about two miles outside of Leeds, they could make it there and back in a day, "Well, what are we waiting for?"

~8~

If they hadn't of known it was a mental institute from their files, they would have as soon as they stepped through the front doors. It was a fairly orderly and sterile place, the only indication that it was that sort of institute were the various patients wandering around the halls with nurses beside them. Jack shook his head as he and Ianto made their way towards the front desk.

"Hello miss," Jack said, leaning against the table, grinning at the young woman who couldn't help but swoon under his gaze.

"H-how may I help you?" she stuttered, blushing.

"We'd like to visit a patient," Ianto answered.

Jack nodded, "We were given a file on one Mary Doe," he held up a fake ID Torchwood had provided, "And we've come to look into her case."

The woman nodded, typing something into the computer before looking back up at them with two passes in her hand. "She should be in Room 312, let me just call a doctor to escort you there…"

Jack nodded, pinning the pass on Ianto's jacket as they waited. He was about to say that they didn't need an escort but then figured they'd be able to get some more information out of him than if they just had the patient. And if her record was anything like her, it would be pretty hard getting a coherent thought from her.

"Are you the ones here for Mary?" a voice asked behind them. They turned to see an older man in a white lab coat standing there with a clipboard.

"Yup, that'd be us," Jack replied, nodding at the doctor as he flashed the ID card.

The doctor nodded, "Right this way."

They followed him around the corner and down a hall, towards a stairwell.

"So doc," Jack began, "This Mary Doe, that her real name?"

"Unfortunately no," the doctor answered, "She was admitted to the institute some time ago and no one knew who she was. We waited for a police report to identify her but none came. As we already had a Jane Doe, we gave her another name."

"Her file mentioned something about multiple personalities," Ianto added, "Could you tell us more about that?"

The doctor held a door open for them to enter the third floor before taking the lead again, "She is an enigma," he sighed, "Usually, in cases dealing with MPD, the patient takes on a few personalities which they may slip into from time to time, unaware that it's happening. While Mary does have one or two permanent personalities, she has a plethora of others as well. Most of which we rarely ever see again after she's gone through it."

"Interesting," Jack mumbled as they came to a stop before a door, a particularly heavy metal one, similar to the others that lined that floor, drastically different from the wooden ones of the first floor.

"I should warn you," he began, going though his keys, "She's had a bad morning, we had to sedate her earlier and she's probably just come out of it. She won't be very coherent."

"Understood," Jack said solemnly as the doctor opened the door.

"Last time we met you were breeding humans for experimentation. I've sought forgiveness…" the girl mumbled, her voice altering slightly from a masculine sounding one to a weary woman's as she rocked back and forth, sitting curled up, her eyes, unseeing, were trained on the floor to her left.

She barely acknowledged their presence.

"Mary," the doctor said softly, stepping into the room, "There are some men here to see you."

"Always here, always crowding," she muttered, scrunching here eyes shut for a moment, "Always were here but never here. Gone. All gone. But different."

"Mary?" he tried again.

Jack held up a hand, stopping the doctor who was about to take a step towards her. Instead, he knelt down before her himself. Her eyes were twitching back and forth in rapid succession as though she were in the middle of REM sleep or reading something at an incredible pace.

"Mary?" Jack asked.

Her head shot up to look at him, "Anomaly," she whispered, "Too old, too young, but never old. Never young."

Jack blinked, a bit startled at her words.

Mary just looked away again, "They died Doctor, the city died. How long's it been like this?" she asked before answering herself, "24 years. All of them, everyone. What happened? A new chemical, a new mood, they called it Bliss. Everyone tried it. They couldn't stop. A virus mutated inside the compound and became airborne. Everything perished even the virus in the end. It killed the world in 7 minutes flat. There was just enough time to close down the walk ways and the flyovers sealing off the under-city. Those people on the motorway aren't lost Doctor they were saved. So the whole thing down there is running on automatic…"

"Please ignore her," the doctor spoke after minutes of the girl speaking to herself, "She does this quite often, one of her many personalities."

"It said she suffered hallucinations as well," Ianto brought up, his eyes fixed on the girl, now squirming in her straight jacket as she continued to speak under her breath.

"Yes, she has had quite a few episodes of that," he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "There are times where she becomes severely agitated and distressed. She begins shouting and trying to attack something that isn't there. Following that are her periods of catatonia, she's completely unresponsive to external stimuli."

"…the two of you stayed here on your own for all these years. We had no choice. Yes you did. Save them Doctor, save them!"

"You said you medicated her?" Jack asked, glancing up at the doctor as Ianto moved to kneel beside him.

"Yes, for some reason the mediation wears off in half the time than an average dose so we have to give her twice the amount just to reach that same time and effect."

"Don't you go dying on me you big old face. You've got to see this, the open road…"

"Big old face?" Jack looked questioningly at the doctor.

"We don't know," he shrugged, "She speaks of many things we are unfamiliar with. There are only a few times we understand her and even then it's a bit of a stretch."

"Such as?"

"At certain times, she's believed she was Madame de Pompadour, Queen Victoria, and most recently William Shakespeare. And those were some of the few we recognized."

"Mary?" Ianto tried, "Can you hear me?"

She looked up at him, ' _Please help me!_ '

Ianto blinked, realizing that she hadn't spoken aloud. Her mouth hadn't moved yet he still heard her as though she were whispering in his ear.

"Doctor," Jack stood, "Would it be possible for us to transfer her to our institute? She's a very interesting case and our team would love the chance to crack the puzzle."

"Oh, well, I…" the doctor was speechless. Mary Doe had been a patient at the institute a little more than a year now. He felt almost insulted that these new doctors wished to try their hand with her, though he could not argue that they had failed to help her in the past. She had changed hands to many doctors in only a few months before she'd been left under his care, with no improvement. Perhaps the new team would be better suited. These youngsters probably had all sorts of new information and technology they could work with.

"I'll have my secretary draw up the paper work," he nodded, motioning for them to leave the room.

Jack stepped out first, while Ianto lingered just a bit, "I'm going to help you," he promised quietly. He could have sworn he heard a 'thank you' just as he closed the door, however that would be impossible as the girl was still mumbling to herself.

"You don't talk, you never say, why not? It's the city. They're singing. I lied to you 'cos I like to. I could pretend, just for a bit that they were still alive. Beneath the burnt orange sky…"

~8~

Owing to Mary Doe's lack of history, it was fairly easy to get the go-ahead to take her with them when they left the institute. The doctors had had to sedate her once again despite Ianto's protests, but it was hospital policy when transporting patients as temperamental as she was.

To say the crew was shocked when Jack and Ianto arrived back at Torchwood carrying a slim girl was an understatement.

They ignored the questions thrown at them as they quickly headed towards the medical examination area. It was a nice change, though, to have a live body on the examination table than a corpse.

"No more drugs," Ianto muttered as Owen went to work, examining her.

He took a blood sample first since there were no outward signs of abuse or illness and began to look into her records. He ignored the fact that Ianto was standing by the girl's side, holding her hand in his, while Jack explained to Tosh and Gwen what was going on.

Owen couldn't help but let out a low whistle as the results of the blood came up. He glanced at the girl, "What did they do to you?"

"What's up?" Jack asked, walking down into the room to lean against the wall.

"They've crammed her with drugs that's what," he explained as his eyes racked over the sheer number of different drugs he'd found in her sample, "I mean literally must have just given her every drug they've had for ages," he looked up to see Ianto staring at him, a hint of concern in his eyes, "It's going to take a while for her system to work through it."

"The doctors said that her body tends to process it twice as fast as normal," Jack added.

"If that's true, then that'll be sooner than later. But that's not what I'm worried about."

"What is it?" Gwen asked.

"It's just…" he sighed, "If they've been giving her these drugs for prolonged periods of time, her body may go through withdrawals."

"She's addicted to the meds?" Tosh asked.

"Not her exactly. Her body is just so used to having them in her, the detox is going to be hell."

No one said a word, just looked over at the girl lying unconscious on the table.

~8~

The detox really was hell. At least the first day or so was. Owen was shocked by how quickly her body was burning through the meds. It had been terrible throughout the day, the girl kept shaking and even vomiting a bit, but Owen assured them it was normal. Ianto stayed by her side, sitting on a stool, holding her hand and whispering calming words to her. By the end of the day her tremors had lessened and the fever that appeared had gone down just a bit. She was still shaking and sweating, but she looked much better than she had earlier.

"She ok?" Jack asked quietly as he entered the medical room.

Ianto looked up, offering a tired smile, "Better."

Jack smiled as well, "Good."

They were silent for a moment as Jack looked at the girl now sleeping on the table. She was shifting as she slept, muttering half conversations to herself like she had been most of the day. Soon enough his gaze landed on Ianto who was still looking at him.

"You do know Jack," Ianto began, "That I'm not…I mean…she's…"

Jack grinned, "I know, how could you find anyone even remotely attractive now that you've met me?"

Ianto laughed before turning his attention to the girl, "I don't know what it is," he admitted, "I just…I feel like I'm supposed to protect her. I feel like she's my little sister who needs protecting..."

Jack nodded, it was exactly how he'd felt when he met Rose and the Doctor. Rose seemed far too innocent and young and he just wanted to do what he could to protect her when the Doctor couldn't. Ianto smiled gratefully at him for understanding.

"Let me know how she does," Jack whispered before sliding out of the room.

The next day the tremors were still there, but to a far less degree than the day before. Around noon her fever had broken and by night she had managed to regain consciousness if only for a moment or two. In that time she uttered her first coherent thoughts, "Thank you Ianto," before she fell asleep again.

Owen was shocked, to say the least, when the third day rolled around to reveal the girl, sitting up in bed, watching over the sleeping Ianto. She motioned for him to keep quiet, allowing the Welshman to continue with his sleep which he was sorely lacking, mostly because of her.

"How are you?" Owen whispered as he went to take her pulse. Still a bit fast, but given the fact that it should have taken her nearly a week to recover, he was going to overlook that.

"Better than I can remember being," she replied honestly, "Thank you, for taking care of me."

Owen smiled, noticing Ianto starting to wake, "My pleasure."

"You're awake!" Ianto exclaimed as he sat up from shock.

"Yes," she nodded, reaching out a hand to take his, "Thank you  _so much_  Ianto, for hearing me, for helping me."

"How did you do that by the way?" a voice asked from the doorway. She glanced over to see Captain Jack standing there, smiling at them.

She smiled softly, ' _Haven't you already guessed?_ '

He blinked much like Ianto did as he realized she hadn't spoken out loud either.

"How?" he asked, eyeing her as Owen went to get his stethoscope to complete his examination.

"You're telepathic?" Ianto ventured, all of them having already guessed she was something of a humanoid alien. No one human would have been able to project herself to him like she had, they just didn't know which kind she was.

"A bit," she replied, sensing that from them as well, "I'm much better at reading minds than projecting. With time and practice all my people could do the same."

She winced a bit as the cold metal of the stethoscope brushed against her chest but couldn't help but smile when she saw the startled look on Owen's face. He quickly moved to the other side of her chest before taking a step back.

"What's wrong?" Ianto asked, noticing his look as Jack stepped closer.

"She…that's..." Owen commented to himself, staring at her.

"What?" Jack shook his head, not following.

"She's got two hearts."

Jack's eyes widened impossibly at the implication of what Owen had just said. Her telepathy was far too developed to be that of a human, which they all knew meant she was an alien. The two hearts though…he could only think of one human-looking alien species with two hearts. He looked at the girl just in time to see her look away from him sadly.

"I could be mistaken," Owen remarked, tapping the stethoscope, "The scope could be all wonky…"

"Get a scan to confirm," Jack ordered, now very serious.

Owen nodded and wheeled over the scanner. Ianto stepped back to Jack's side as Owen set up and quickly got a reading of the woman's chest.

A minute later he had the results up on a screen, clear as day, there were two hearts.

"What's that mean?" Ianto asked, concerned from Jack's reaction.

"It means she's a Time Lord," Jack answered, staring at the scans of the hearts.

"Time Lady," she called. They all jumped, completely forgetting she was right behind them, "Is the correct term," they spun around to face her, still sitting on the table, a sad smile on her face, "The last one, actually."

"No you're not," Jack replied, shocking his companions, "There's an…"

"Another Time Lord, yes," she nodded, "But there is no other Time Lady."

"You know the Doctor?" he asked, stepping towards her.

"Yes…and no…" she frowned, "It's a bit complicated."

Jack reached out and pulled up the stool, sitting down facing her, "I've got all the time in the world."

"I know," she smiled a bit, an understanding passing between them. She took a breath, "Thet…the Doctor and I, we're Linked."

"Linked?" Ianto asked, leaning against the wall.

"It's…" she trailed, trying to think of how to explain it when clearly only one of the three men might have a clue as to what she was talking about, "We're connected, mentally. It's why I was so jumbled in the institute."

"Why would that make you jumbled?" Owen inquired.

"The drugs they gave me, did any of them contain aspirin?"

Owen paused a moment, going through the list of medication he'd found in her blood, "A bit, yeah, why?"

"Aspirin is lethal to Time Lords," Jack answered, "And Ladies," he added, seeing her look.

"They were poisoning you?" Ianto gasped, shocked at how the doctors could basically have almost killed her.

"They didn't know," she defended, "They have no idea I'm really an alien…"

"You've got two hearts," Owen cut in.

She shrugged, "They thought it was a birth defect," she sighed, thinking of how some humans could ignore things even when they were right in front of their faces, "When they started giving me medication, the aspirin started to poison me. It made me more susceptible to the drugs and it made my physiology go out of whack, my mental shields and control began to slip. It made it hard to block the Doctor out."

"So…all that time you were mumbling and slipping into other personalities," Jack began, slowly coming to a conclusion, "It was really the Doctor you were hearing?"

She nodded, "I couldn't block it out and the only way to relieve my mental stress at feeling and hearing everything he was, was to get it out somehow, by speaking it."

"If you can hear the Doctor, why can't he hear you?"

"It's the Link I share with him."

"Yes, but why are only you affected?"

"It's complicated," she bit her lip, trying to work up the nerve to relieve the past, "On Gallifrey…"

"Where?" Owen scrunched his face in confusion.

"My home planet. On Gallifrey we have a phenomenon call Linking, it's..." she sighed, rubbing her head, it was  _so_  hard to explain.

"Take a breath," Jack told her, "Start from the beginning."

She nodded, "The Doctor...was married on Gallifrey to one of his childhood friends because he hadn't found his Link yet…"

"Links?" Ianto cut in this time.

"It's a person who is connected to you, on every level. When a Time Lord and Lady who are each other's Link meet, they become instantly connected, Linked."

"Like imprinting?" Owen asked, trying to follow along.

"Not really. While it  _is_  an instant connection, it is not an instant love. In fact, until a Linking occurs, there's no way to tell in which direction the connection will go. Some become friends, some rivals, some like siblings, and some fall in love. It depends on the person...it depends on what you think of them after..." she swallowed hard, recalling what Linking felt like, what was discovered during it, "After the Linking occurs."

Jack started to smirk a bit, already able to tell from how she spoke of the process and the Doctor that she loved the man.

"It doesn't always happen though and some aren't as hopeful that they would meet their Link and so they become involved with another, which is what the Doctor did. He hadn't met his Link…"

"You," Jack corrected.

She smiled softly, nodding, "Me. He hadn't met me before the war started and he doubted he ever would. He and a friend both felt that way and decided to become involved. She soon became with child, but..." she hesitated, not wanting to give too much of the Doctor's private past away, but these men had saved her, they wanted to know her story, and a large part of it involved the Doctor and how she came to Link to him in the first place, "Both died during the birth."

She remembered that day. She had been in her home with her mother when there was a fierce knock on the door. Her father, sensing the Doctor in a panic, ordered her and her mother to leave the room. Just as she was climbing the stairs, her father had opened the door. In that single moment that she caught a glimpse of the Doctor, she knew in her heart that she had found her Link, the connection was instantaneous, flooding her mind with his memories, her heart with his pain. Linking opened you up to another person, let you see into their mind, their soul bear to you. Everything they were, everything they are, all their memories, desires, hopes and fears were exposed only to their Link. The connection blazed so strongly that it took time to process such a connection forming, to know someone so deeply and be known in return...but once things had settled, depending on the person, feelings would soon develop.

And he was the Doctor...how could she not love him in the end?

But that end never came for the Doctor, he'd been distraught, barely aware of anything let alone her, so she left him to speak with her father, knowing he'd come there truly for her brother, his best friend. She would learn later that the Doctor had just lost his son and its mother in childbirth. She never saw him again after that. His loss had driven him away from the planet, exploring the Universe. She could hear him, of course, in her mind and in her heart. It was an effect of the Linking, no matter how far away one traveled or to what time or dimension they went to, the other would always be able to hear them.

She had Linked to the Doctor, but he had not Linked to her. He had no idea she existed.

"Is that what Linking feels like?" Ianto asked quietly after a moment.

She looked up, shocked, to see the men staring at her with awed expressions and she realized she had been projecting her thoughts to them. Well, at least it was one less thing to explain.

"Yes, that's Linking," she nodded, flushing a bit as she realized they'd only been able to feel what came from Linking, the intense connection, the feeling of never being alone, of knowing someone would always be there, of understanding...

"And the Doctor," Jack shook his head, bringing himself back to the present, "He didn't realize you had just Linked to him?"

"No, he didn't, he was far too upset about the passing of the baby and its mother to notice anything."

"Well it explains why he doesn't know you exist," Jack muttered. If the only way to tell where a Time Lord was in all of space and time was to be Linked to them, and he wasn't Linked to the girl, he'd never know he wasn't the last of his kind. Speaking of which…

"What's your name?" he asked, "We can't exactly call you Mary Doe if it's not your name."

Her smile grew into a bit of a smirk, "I can't tell you my  _true_  name. However, while I was on Earth, I did enjoy being called Evelyn, or Evy."

"While you were on Earth?" Owen caught on, "How long have you been here?"

"How did you survive the war?" Jack added.

"Just before the final measure was to be taken to end the war, should the fighting become too dangerous, my mother pushed me into the Untempered Schism, it's a crack in time," she explained, seeing their questioning looks, "I fell through it and kept falling until I actually landed here on Earth, I'd say about 5 years ago."

"Why didn't you seek the Doctor out?"

"I tried, but he didn't always land in this time," she sighed, "By the time I made it to where I could sense him, he'd gone. He'd convinced himself that the inkling he'd feel of my mind whenever he did was just a phantom sensation from losing our people in the war. And I wasn't exactly capable this last year or so..."

Jack winced, shooting her a sheepish, apologetic smile which she shook her head at, nothing to apologize for.

"How did you end up in the Mason Institute?" Ianto inquired, moving to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Sheer stupidity," she answered, laughing a bit, "There was a time, about a year or so ago, when the Doctor must have either been very angry or very frightened because I had such a terrible headache. One of the friends I had met offered me medicine she said would make me better. I didn't bother looking to see what it was. It was aspirin. A few minutes later I was nearly having seizures on the floor. She called for help, I was sent to the hospital, and they medicated me, which didn't help matters, only made them worse. When the hospital couldn't handle me anymore, thinking I was mentally disturbed, they sent me to Mason. There weren't any physical records of me and no contact information so I was left there."

She reached out and took Ianto's hand, "Thank you,  _so much_ , for getting me out of there," she smiled, "It feels so good to be able to think clearly again."

"It's no problem," he replied.

"How  _did_  you manage to contact Ianto?" Jack asked, very curious.

"I don't really know," she replied truthfully, "I'd been calling out for ages. And, I suppose, someone finally saw me. I'm sorry if I ruined your birthday," Ianto just waved her off, "Once I knew you could see me, I focused as much as I could on contacting you again."

"So, do you have a sonic screwdriver too?" Jack grinned.

"No," she smiled, thanking him silently for the change in subject, she  _really_  didn't enjoy thinking on the war or being stuck in that horrid institute. She blushed a bit when she ended up yawning halfway through her 'no.'

Jack laughed, "You rest up," he told her, standing, "You're welcome here as long as you want."

"Thanks," she smiled, starting to drift back to sleep, feeling safe for the first time in too long.

~8~

She'd been at Torchwood a week now and was currently sitting on the sofa in Jack's office, staring at nothing in particular with a cup of hot tea in one hand and a banana in the other.

"Is it a Gallifreyan thing to like bananas," Jack's voice carried over to her, snapping her out of her thoughts, "Or is it just a trait you and the Doctor share?"

She smiled, rolling her eyes, "I like bananas, banan…"

"Bananas are good," Jack finished for her, this time rolling his eyes, "Where have I heard  _that_  before?"

She laughed, "It's probably a Gallifreyan thing, potassium is good for stimulating our brains, keeps up clever. Pears on the other hand…" she made a disgusted face, "They serve  _no_ purpose at all."

Jack let out a booming bark of a laugh, leaning back on his desk chair with his hands behind his head as he observed her, "But seriously though," he continued, "What were you thinking about?"

"The Doctor's idle," she replied, "He hasn't gone anywhere since New New York. I think he's trying to debate whether or not to go on a make up trip. Martha's about to kill him."

Jack grinned, thinking about the new companion she'd told him about, "Well, why don't we invite our Time Lord friend down here and introduce him to y…"

"Jack," she cut off, a slight warning in her voice.

They'd had this discussion a few times over the last week. He kept insisting they find some way to get the Doctor to stop by so that she and the Doctor could 'reconnect,' as Jack had called it. She refused. She understood all too well that the Doctor was still in pain over the loss of his friend Rose. She didn't want to push him into anything just because she was a Time Lady. Secretly though, she had another reason. She could tell the Doctor deeply cared for, maybe even loved, Rose and, if she revealed herself to be a Time Lady, he might want to be with her because he  _could_  be with her. In his mind, whoever his Link was had died on Gallifrey and so went any hope of a possible romantic connection should the Link have resulted in that. She would be a rebound and that would just hurt both of them in the end.

"I know, I know, you don't want to reveal yourself," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace with a small hourglass on the end, "Which is why I had Tosh work on this."

He tossed it to her and she tried to look at it but couldn't, "A Perception Filter?" she asked, staring at him curiously.

"Not just any Perception Filter," he explained, getting up and sitting next to her, "Look closer."

So she did, or she tried to. She realized the affects of a Perception Filter and managed to work her brain around it to see what he was talking about, "You put a Perception Filter on a Perception Filter?"

Why would he do that? Perception Filters were meant to make someone invisible, automatically making the Filter itself invisble as well.

"Yup," he said, popping the p, "You can wear it and no one will know you're wearing it. It won't exactly hide you from public eye, 'cos it's running at half power to hide itself but it should…"

"Hide just enough of me where the Doctor won't recognize I'm a Time Lady!" she flung her arms around Jack and hugged him for dear life, "That's brilliant Jack!"

"So does this mean…" he trailed, waiting for her.

She smiled, "I'll call the Doctor."

~8~

The next morning would find Jack, Ianto, and Evy standing in the back room, a space just big enough for the Doctor to park the TARDIS without destroying anything…hopefully…

Evy took a deep breath and shut her eyes, concentrating as much as she could on contacting the Doctor. It was harder than she said it would be. First she had to use the Link to reach across time and space to find him, then she had to breach the walls of the TARDIS (not an easy thing to do), and then penetrate the Doctor's mind (another thing not easily done). But in the end, she managed a brief message before collapsing in Ianto's arms.

"Whoa," he stumbled, catching her, "I've got you."

"Did it work?" Jack asked.

Before she could answer the wheezing of the TARDIS could be heard. Evy's eyes widened, "He can't see me standing here waiting," she reminded them. She and Jack had come up with a plan to get her on the TARDIS without being suspicious. She just hadn't expected the Doctor to respond quite so quickly though, "All I told him was Jack and Cardiff," she mumbled to him as Ianto led her out of the room.

Moments later the blue police box appeared two feet away.

"Jack!" someone called as the TARDIS door opened. A man in his late 30s stepped out, brown hair, brown eyes, wearing a brown suit, grinning like a madman.

"Doctor?" Jack asked in disbelief, he thought the regeneration stuff was a myth.

"Doctor!" an annoyed voice called from inside the TARDIS, a second later a beautiful black woman stepped out, "You shut the door in my face!"

"Oh, sorry 'bout that Martha," the Doctor apologized before turning back to Jack, "Jack, Martha, Martha, Jack."

"Nice to meet you," Martha nodded her head towards the man as he returned the gesture.

"You as well," he glanced at the Doctor who seemed to be avoiding looking right at him, "Good to see you again Doctor."

"Good to be seen," he replied, looking around, not having a clue where he was, some sort of base, "I love what you've done with the place. So why am I here?"

"What?" Jack asked, playing confused.

"I got a mental call telling me to come to Cardiff, to you. How'd you manage that one?"

"Uh…" Jack stumbled a bit, they hadn't exactly thought up  _that_  excuse yet.

' _Tell him it was the Mental Amplifier,_ ' the voice of Evy whispered in his head.

' _The mental what?_ ' he replied silently.

' _That weird helmet you and Tosh were looking at the other day._ '

"Oh!" he said out loud, before realizing his mistake, "Uh, you mean it worked?"

"What worked?" the Doctor asked, eyeing Jack curiously.

"The Mental Amplifier we found," he answered.

' _Nice save,_ ' Evy whispered again.

"We found a helmet thing the other day," Jack continued, "We've been working on it to see what it could do. Evy thought it might be a mental amplifier, she's been working on it and we decided to give it a try and who better to contact than the man who reads minds?"

"You can read minds?" Martha asked, just a bit put off that she hadn't known that and more than a little embarrassed as to what she had been thinking the last few days.

"Yes, but not all the time," the Doctor answered Martha, before turning to Jack, "Who's this Evy?"

"Oh she's great," Jack grinned, turning to lead them down to the work area where Ianto was seated with Evy, wearing her filter, jeans, and a green sweater, her hair half up/half down. She was sitting at a workbench, the helmet set up before her. It really looked like she was working on it, "Yeah, she joined us just a couple weeks ago, she's got a real knack for fixing things."

"Really?" the Doctor asked, a bit impressed. Mental Amplifiers, if it was one, were fairly hard to fix, being quite complicated to build in the first place, "I could use someone like her on the TARDIS."

"Hey!" Martha cried, indignant, "What am I, chopped liver?"

"You're my doctor," he replied cheekily.

"The Doctor has a doctor?" Evy mumbled as they neared her, "That's a bit redundant, isn't it?"

The Doctor laughed at that, "I like this one," he said to Jack as he walked over to the workbench where Evy sat, "What have you got here?"

"Mental Amplifier. Generation 7, I believe. Model SK2."

"And how do you know that?" he asked, very shocked by her knowledge of future and alien technology.

"Did I mention she's from the 51st century as well?" Jack put in, popping up on the other side of the bench.

"Nope, think you forgot that little detail," the Doctor frowned.

Evy spun in her chair to face the Time Lord, "Evelyn Daniels," she introduced, holding her hand out for the Doctor to shake, "Call me Evy."

She barely contained the twitch that struck her arm as electricity ran up her from the contact of his grip. It was so hard, looking into the eyes of her Link and knowing he couldn't Link to her as long as she wore the Filter. It would trick his mind into thinking she was human, and the mind was a very powerful thing. He already didn't believe any more of his people had survived, so the Filter just helped him along with not noticing that aspect about her. It hurt, but it had to be done.

"The Doctor," he began.

"I know," she replied, noticing he still hadn't let go of her hand, "Jack's told me a lot about you."

"Has he?" he asked, smiling, before nodding towards Martha, "And this is Martha Jones."

"Nice to meet you," she smiled at Martha, "I'd shake your hand except the Doctor hasn't quite let go of mine yet."

As if just realizing that he was, in fact, still holding her hand, he let her go quickly. Evy stood up and walked over to Martha to properly introduce herself.

"So," Evy began, turning to face the Doctor, "Do you really have a time travel box? A TARDIS, is it?"

The Doctor grinned, motioning for her to follow him to where he'd parked his police box. He opened the door dramatically, allowing her to step inside. For one brief moment, unnoticeable by anyone, she paused in the doorway, sending out a silent hello to the TARDIS itself who hummed happily at the appearance of another Time Lord. The box was not one to be fooled by a simple Perception Filter.

The Doctor waited patiently for her to utter the quote he so loved hearing, but sadly, 'it's bigger on the inside' never came. Instead the girl spun around, smiling, "This is brilliant!" she called, walking around the controls, "Is this a Transtemporal Vortex Director?" she asked, pointing to a small compass-like device on the panel.

The Doctor's eyes widened dramatically as he approached her, noticing that it  _was_  the TVD, "You know what this is?" he asked, shocked.

"51st century," she reminded him. It was a cover story she and Jack had worked out, "But it seems a bit skewed to the left…I could fix that for you…"

"Really?" now he really  _was_  in shock. He'd been trying to fix the blasted device on and off for decades.

She nodded before crouching down and puling herself under the panel to get to work. The Doctor walked over to where Jack and Martha were having a friendly chat, "I'll tell you what," he said, "She fixes that, I may never let her leave!"

Jack just laughed, "Then I'd have to say, she'll be sorely missed."

An hour later would find the Doctor, Martha, Ianto, and Jack sitting down for a cup of tea as Jack explained where they were, another cover story, that he'd gotten together a few friends who also had encounters wtih aliens to try and protect the Earth, when Evy walked through the door, a smudge of some sort of grease on her cheek and wiping her hands on a rag, "All done," she smiled, enjoying the look of shock on the Doctor's face.

"No!" he exclaimed in disbelief, before running towards his TARDIS. He made his way straight for the TVD only to see it was now right on target. He looked up at the girl in question receiving a high-five from Jack, "No!"

Jack just laughed, "I believe there was an offer for an adventure Doctor?" he asked the Time Lord jokingly.

"No. I believe there was a threat of a kidnapping."

Evy shook her head with a smile, "It's not technically kidnapping if I give my consent."

"Really?" the Doctor looked at her, "You want to come?"

"You'll let her come?" Martha cut in, getting excited to have another woman on the journey.

"If you'll have me I'd love to join you," Evy smiled, "Maybe I could help fix some things. Jack's told me how bumpy a ride…"

Martha had a bit of a coughing fit at the word 'bumpy.'

"…it is," Evy continued, "Maybe there's something I can do to help."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment, before shrugging, "It can't hurt."

Evy laughed as Ianto and Jack led her out of the TARDIS to get her some supplies for the journey.

~8~

Ianto and Jack stood watching as Evy packed a few belongings they had gotten her into a bag.

"Is it mad that she's like a little sister to us?" Ianto whispered to Jack.

"Considering she's centuries older than the two of us combined?" Jack countered, "Not at all."

Evy came up to them, pulling them into a hug, "I heard that," she said to them, "And thank you. You both are like my brothers," she began to walk towards the TARDIS, turning to throw a salute to them before entering the TARDIS.

The Doctor and Martha were talking by the control panel as she leaned against the doors of the ship after she shut them.

' _It's good to be back,_ ' she mentally patted the ship, smiling as the ship practically buzzed in her mind at her arrival.

She glanced at the Doctor and Martha, able to hear what was being said even though she was on the other side of the room, sometimes being Linked had its advantages.

"…a bit ironic though?" Martha was asking, "I mean, think about it. Just before we get to the TARDIS after seeing the Face of Boe, some woman's walking away from it, leaving a note stuck on the door. And that note…"

"What about it?" the Doctor countered as he focused on the controls.

"'Wait for the call?'" Martha shook her head, "And then you get a mental call to go to Cardiff and…"

"Martha, it's time travel, things don't always happen in the right order. That woman could have gotten her times wrong or the message could have been for another call…there's scores of possibilities, I know, I can see them."

Martha rolled her eyes and turned to grumble when she saw Evy standing there. She smiled "Oi!" she called to the new companion, "Come on! We've an adventure to go on."

Evy smiled as well and made her way to the control panel, watching the Doctor fiddle around and realized, quite quickly, he'd never passed his test in operating a TARDIS. Well, one thing was certain, this would definitely be an adventure.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole Linking process and what that is will be talked about much more in depth by Evy in a later chapter, really explaining the different ways it could go and the aftereffects of it, as well as her involvement (because she certainly was) in ending the Time War. There will also be more about her name, Evelyn, and why she selected it, but probably not till we first meet River Song.
> 
> I hope Jack and Torchwood were believable, I haven't really watched much of the show (which is odd because I love Jack) and what I did was ages ago, so some little details might be wrong.
> 
> Just a note, in this story Susan Foreman is not a Time Lady, she is like…a good, good friend of the Doctor's who she calls her grandfather. Like you might call any old man you're close to Gramps even if they're not related to you. Everything she's learned about Gallifrey has been from things the Doctor told her. She may possibly be another mildly telepathic humanoid alien, but she is not the Doctor's granddaughter. I don't think it was ever expressly stated she was 100 percent his biological granddaughter, I know there are some debates on that too...according to wikipedia, it says that it was 'generally assumed' she was Gallifreyan because she knew about Gallifrey, called the First Doctor her grandfather, and was mildly telepathic but that the actress herself was given very little background information on her character. So here, in this story, she's not.
> 
> As for Evy, an actress I picture her to be similar to is Natalie Portman.
> 
> If you're interested, the complete story is still available on FF.net, same username, same title updated through to Series 8 :)


	2. Daleks in Manhattan (Part 1)

As it turned out, fixing the Transtemporal Vortex Director did little to help the flight of the TARDIS, though Evy had a sneaking suspicion it had more to do with the Doctor's piloting than anything. As a thank you for the first of what the Doctor hoped would be many fixed items and a makeup adventure for Martha, he was taking them on a trip. He'd promised them the original New York, not its 15th generation descendent as he had taken Martha to, and both women were excited, having never been far from London before…at least for Martha. For Evy, it was still just as special, her first ever trip with the Doctor. She'd been aware of his many previous adventures, of course she was. It was hard to ignore the Doctor's voice in her head screaming 'RUN!' But still, she'd never gotten the chance to actually go anywhere in a TARDIS before the war. She'd only ever been in one to earn her pilot's rights but then the war began and that was it. Now though, she could not wait!

"Where are we?" Martha asked, looking around. Of all the pictures she'd seen of New York, this looked nothing like it.

"Ah, smell that Atlantic breeze," the Doctor inhaled deeply as he followed Martha out of the TARDIS followed by Evy who shut the door behind her, "Nice and cold. Lovely. Martha, have you met my friend?"

He turned the woman around to face the Statue of Liberty, "Is that...oh my God! That's the Statue of Liberty!"

"Gateway to the New World," Evy agreed, laughing at her friend's enthusiasm.

"'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to break free…'" the Doctor quoted.

"'The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door,'" Evy finished, continuing the quote.

"That's so brilliant," Martha gushed as the Doctor looked at Evy, impressed, "I've always wanted to go to New York. I mean the real New York, not the new, new, new, new, new…"

Evy laughed as she put an arm around Martha, "We get it."

She led Martha over to the edge of Liberty Island, taking in the view of the Manhattan skyline.

Of course, it could never remain silent for too long when the Doctor was around, "Well, there's the genuine article. So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to say twice. No wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam."

Evy laughed, before singing, "'Even Old New York was once New Amsterdam, why they changed it, I can't say. People just liked it better that way...'"

"Don't do that," the Doctor shook his head, though greatly amused by the song, "Don't."

"Yeah, I know, bit rubbish as a singer, aren't I?" she asked, smiling, not at all insulted.

None of her past incarnations had ever been very artistically or musically inclined, she'd always been drawn more towards science and mechanics than anything. She loved working on different objects, fixing things, her father had always called her his little mechanic as she had a penchant for spotting problems and fixing them. It was like a puzzle, you just had to know where to look, see where it was broken and get to work solving it, fixing it. She liked fixing things.

"A bit," the Doctor nodded.

"I wonder what year it is 'cos look, the Empire State Building's not even finished yet!" Martha exclaimed, pointing to where the skyscraper was still a work-in-progress.

"Work-in-progress. Still got a couple floors to go, and if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around…"

"1930," Evy supplied.

"November 1, 1930," Martha said, reading it off a newspaper.

"You're getting good at this," the Doctor smiled at her.

Martha just rolled her eyes and held up the paper for him to take, "Eighty years ago. It's funny 'cos you see all those old newsreels in black and white like it's so far away, but here we are. It's real. It's now," she laughed in excitement, "Come on, you two," she said, looking between the two of them, huddled over the paper, "Where do we go first?"

"I think our detour just got longer," the Doctor said, holding up the paper and pointing at the headline.

"'Hooverville Mystery Deepens,'" she read, "What's Hooverville?"

"Central Park," Evy informed her as she took Martha's arm and began leading her off after the Doctor.

~8~

"Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the USA, came to power a year ago," the Doctor began as they reached the park, "Up till then New York was a boom town, the Roaring 20s, and then…"

"The Wall Street Crash, yeah?" Martha asked, looking at Evy who nodded, "When was that, 1929?"

"Whole economy was wiped out overnight," Evy added, "Thousands of people ended up unemployed. Suddenly those huddled masses doubled in number and with nowhere to go they ended up here, in Central Park."

"What?" Martha's eyes widened, "They actually  _live_  in the park? In the middle of the city?" she looked around as they arrived in Hooverville, a barely standing camp with small shacks and tents set up throughout the entirety of the space.

"Ordinary people," the Doctor watched them sadly, "Lost their jobs. Couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything. There are places like this all over America."

"You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go," Evy concluded.

They walked along the encampment until they heard shouting. They turned to see two men fighting over something.

"You thievin' lowlife!" a man shouted before punching the other. Two others quickly raced forward to break them up, "Give me my loaf!"

"I didn't touch it!" the second man glared.

An older black man walked toward the crowd and right over to the feuding men, "Cut that out!" he shouted but the two men ignored him, "Cut that out! Right now!" he wormed his way between them and shoved them apart.

"He stole my bread!" the first man shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the second man.

"That's enough!" the older man yelled, looking at the second man, "Did you take it?"

"I don't know what happened," the second man defended, "He just went crazy."

The first man lunged at him again only to be held back.

"That's enough!" the older man repeated, "Now think real careful before you lie to me."

The second man dropped his head, "I'm starvin', Solomon..."

The older man, Solomon, held out his hand for the bread which the second man pulled out from his coat and handed over, "We're all starvin'," he said, breaking the bread in half and handing it to each of the men involved, "We all got families somewhere. No stealin' and no fightin'. You know the rules. Thirteen years ago I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did. And the  _only_  reason we got through was because we stuck together! No matter how bad things get, we still act like human beings. It's all we got."

The men slowly made their ways off while the Doctor glanced at the girls, "Come on," he told them, leading them over to Solomon, this was clearly the man to talk to, "I suppose that makes you the boss around here."

"And, uh, who might you be?" Solomon asked, eyeing the three of them.

"He's the Doctor," Martha introduced, "And I'm Martha. And that's Evy."

"A doctor," Solomon scoffed, walking over to a fire, "Well, we got, uh, stockbrokers, we got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. Neighbourhood gets classier by the day," he mumbled to himself as he warmed his hands.

"How many people live here?" Martha asked, looking around.

"At any one time, hundreds. No place else to go. But I will say this about Hooverville. We are a truly equal society, black, white, all the same. All starving," he laughed quietly to himself, "So you're welcome. The three of you. But tell me, Doctor, you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me," he pointed to the Empire State Building, "That there's going to be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do  _that_ , and we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?"

The Doctor didn't have an answer for that. Instead they all stood around the fire in silence for a while until the Doctor spoke again, "So…men are going missing," he said, holding up the newspaper, "Is this true?"

Solomon reached out and took the paper, "It's true alright."

He turned and walked off into his tent, leaving the trio to stand outside it, not wanting to intrude, "But what does 'missing' mean exactly?" Evy called in, just as curious about the situation as the Doctor. Anyone would be too if they'd lived with him in their head as long as she had, "Men must come and go here all the time. I doubt anone's keeping a register."

Solomon motioned for them to enter as he sat down, "This is different," he told them as they took a seat.

"In what way?" Martha asked.

"Someone takes them at night. We hear something. Someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone. Like they vanish into thin air."

"And you're sure someone's taking them?" the Doctor frowned, not entirely believing the assumption, but having little to go on otherwise.

"Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got. Your knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning."

"Have you been to the police?" Martha replied.

"Yeah, we tried that. Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal."

"So, the question is, who's taking them and what for?" Evy summed.

"Solomon, Mr. Diagoras is here," a young man said, sticking his head into the tent.

Solomon sighed before getting up and walking out, the trio following after him. There was a man with greasy hair slicked back, dressed a bit better than the others, standing there, talking to the men.

"I need men," Mr. Diagoras was saying, "Volunteers. I got a little work for you and you sure look like you can use the money."

"Yeah," the man who came to the tent asked cautiously, "What is the money?"

"A dollar a day," Diagoras answered.

"What's the work?" Solomon asked above the grumbling of the men.

"A little trip down the sewers. Got a tunnel that collapsed needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?"

"A dollar a day? That's slave wage. Men don't always come back up, do they?"

"Accidents happen," Diagoras shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Evy cut in, concerned.

"What sort of accidents?" the Doctor added.

"You don't need the work?" Diagoras glared, "That's fine. Anybody else?" he rolled his eyes as the Doctor raised his hand, "Enough with the questions."

"Oh, no," the Doctor grinned, "I'm volunteering."

"Me too," Evy raised her hand as well.

"I'll kill you both for this," Martha grumbled as she too lifted her hand along with Solomon and the man from the tent.

~8~

The sewers were just as to be expected. Dark, dirty, cold, and wet. The girls were none too pleased with the Doctor for that.

"Turn left," Diagoras instructed them, "Go about half a mile. Follow Tunnel 273. Fall's right ahead of you. You can't miss it."

"And when do we get our dollar?" Frank, the man from the tent, asked.

"When you come back up," Diagoras stated as though it should be obvious.

"And if we don't come back up?" the Doctor supplied.

"Then I got no one to pay."

"We'll be back," Solomon promised.

"Let's hope so," Martha added, glaring at the Doctor and Evy.

The group started down the tunnel as Evy turned to stare at Diagoras's retreating back before hurrying to join the gang.

"We just gotta stick together," Frank reassured Martha, who was more than a little worried about the whole thing, "It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. You could hide an army down here."

"So what about you, Frank?" Martha asked, trying to steer the conversation away from the sewers, "You're not from around these parts, are you?"

"Oh, you could talk," Frank laughed, "No, no, I'm from Tennessee, born and bred."

"So how come you're here?"

"Uh, my daddy died," he frowned, "Mama…couldn't afford to feed us all. So, I'm the oldest, up to me to feed myself, so put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There's a whole lot of runaways in camp younger than me. From all over...Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas…Solomon keeps a lookout for us. So, what about you? You're a long way from home."

"Yeah, I'm just a hitcher too," Martha smiled softly.

"You stick with me, you'll be alright," Frank promised, staring at Martha a bit.

"So this Diagoras bloke, who is he then?" Evy cut in. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the man.

"A couple of months ago, he was just another foreman," Solomon explained, "Now it seems like he's running most of Manhattan."

"How did he manage that, then?" the Doctor asked.

"These are strange times. A man can go from being King of the Hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks it works the other way 'round."

"Whoa!" the Doctor called, reaching out to pull Evy back before she had the misfortune to step on a purple blob on the ground giving off a dim green light.

"Is that radioactive or something?" Martha asked, stepping forward to look at it as the Doctor and Evy squatted down by it. She nearly gagged at the stench of it, "It's gone off, whatever it is," the Doctor ignored her as he slipped on his glasses and picked up the blob, "And you've got to pick it up."

"At least he didn't poke it with a stick," Evy mumbled as she too stared at the blob.

The Doctor leaned forward, sniffing it before pulling back and holding it up. He turned to Evy, "Shine your torch through it."

Evy did as he asked, watching it, "Composite organic matter," she mumbled, earning a surprised look from the Doctor for a moment, before turning to Martha, not wanting her to feel left out, "Martha? Medical opinion?"

"It's not human," she shook her head, "I know that."

"No, it's not," the Doctor confirmed as Solomon and Frank looked on, puzzled, "And I'll tell you something else. We must be at least half a mile in and I don't see any sign of a collapse, do you?"

"So why did Mr Diagoras send up down here?" Evy concluded, following his logic.

"So where are we now?" Martha frowned, "What's above us?"

"Well…we're right underneath Manhattan," he said.

Solomon looked around, nodding, "We're way beyond half a mile. There's no collapse, nothing."

"That Diagoras bloke, was he lying?" Martha asked.

"Looks like it," Evy nodded.

"So why did he want people to come down here?" Frank frowned.

"Solomon, I think it's time you took these three back," the Doctor nodded at Frank, Martha, and Evy, "I'll be much quicker on my own."

Before he could continue, a squealing noise echoed through the tunnels.

"What the hell was that?" Solomon looked around frantically.

"Hello?" Frank called.

"Shh!" Martha and Evy hissed.

"Frank," Solomon chastised.

"What if it's one of the folk gone missing?" Frank argued, "You'd be scared, half-mad down here on your own."

"Do you think they're still alive?" the Doctor asked, his tone implying he didn't think so.

"Heck, we ain't seen no bodies down here," Frank replied optimistically, "Maybe they just got lost."

"I know I never heard nobody make a sound like that," Solomon commented as the squealing occurred again.

The Doctor walked a little ways ahead, Evy following close behind as the group kept talking.

"Sounds like there's more than one of 'em," Frank agreed.

"This way," the Doctor called, nodding towards a tunnel.

"No, that way," Solomon pointed his torch towards another tunnel, the light catching a huddled form on the ground.

"Doctor!" Martha called.

He and Evy quickly rejoined the group, seeing that they had found someone.

"Who are you?" Solomon asked as he drew closer to the figure.

"Are you lost?" Frank tried when Solomon got no response, "Can you understand me? I've been thinkin' about folk lost…" he took a step towards the figure but Evy pulled him back.

The Doctor gave her a nod of approval as he'd been about to pull the man back, "It's alright, Frank. Just stay back. Let me have a look," he walked towards the figure, "He's got a point, though, my mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here on my own," the figure squealed, "We know the way out. Daylight. If you want to come with us..." he squatted down and moved his torch to reveal a man with a pig's face, "Oh, but what are you?"

"Is, uh, that some kind of carnival mask?" Solomon asked, growing the slightest bit fearful.

"No, it's real," Evy replied, moving to crouch next to the Doctor. She reached out and lightly touched the pig man's face but he flinched away, "I'm sorry."

"Now listen to me," the Doctor said, drawing the pig man's attention to himself, "I promise I can help. Now, who did this to you?"

"Doctor…Evy…I think you'd better get back here," Martha called as she watched more pig men entering through the opposite end of the tunnel, "Doctor!"

"Actually…" the Doctor said as he stood, pulling Evy up with him, "Good point," he backed up towards the others, noticing the pig men eyeing him and following his movements.

"They're following you," Martha gasped as Evy stepped next to her.

"Yeah, I noticed that, thanks. Well then, Martha, Evy, Frank, Solomon…"

"What?"

"Um, basically…run!" he shouted as they all bolted down the tunnel.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When it comes to Evy, I ended up finding it a little ironic that I pictured Natalie Portman, aka Padme from Star Wars, as being similar to her when the 11th Doctor described himself as once being 'the little green one from Star Wars' in a deleted connecting scene lol. She's definitely very casually dressed, jeans and a jumper, gotta be comfortable when running with the Doctor eh? Not to mention she's trying to blend in as a human. I know not much has happened yet with Evy, but slowly and surely she will start to have more to do and more involvement. Series 3 here will at first be about integrating her into the Doctor's life, having her there as a companion first, getting him used to her presence :)
> 
> Just as a teaser-ish hint, this will definitely be a Doctor/OC story, but it'll be VERY slow going, even slower than with the Professor in the Academic Series, but for quite a few reasons, he thinks she human currently, some of Evy's reasons for pretending to be so will reflect why it'll be slow going, and well...I don't want to give away what I have planned for Series 4. As for River Song, still biologically who she is in the show, but I definitely know who she is to the Doctor (and Evy) and I have a HUGE twist for The Wedding (...or something else) of River Song that had me grinning when I thought of it :)


	3. Daleks in Manhattan (Part 2)

"Where are we going?" Martha looked around frantically as they raced through the sewers.

"This way!" Evy shouted as they turned right and kept running, the pig men chasing after them.

"There's a ladder!" the Doctor shouted, climbing it and using the sonic screwdriver on the lid. He climbed out, followed by Martha and Evy. Solomon hesitated when Frank moved to pick up a metal bar to hold the pig men off.

"Frank!" Solomon shouted as he climbed the ladder. Frank looked over to see the others had made it up and ran towards it, climbing it as well. Once Solomon was up he reached back down and held out a hand for Frank, "C'mon, Frank! C'mon!"

"I've got ya," the Doctor added, "C'mon!"

The pig men swarmed the bottom of the ladder and reached out, grabbing Frank and pulling him back down into the sewer.

"Frank!" Solomon shouted.

"No!" the Doctor called, moving to head back down, when Solomon pushed him aside and closed the lid to the sewer before a pig man climbed up.

"We can't go after him."

"We gotta go back down!"

"We can't just leave him!" Evy agreed.

"No, I'm not losing anybody else!" Solomon glared at them, "Those creatures were from Hell! From Hell itself! If we go after them, they'll take us all! There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry."

"Alright then," a showgirl called, jumping out from behind a shelf with a gun in her hand, "Put 'em up!" Martha's hands shot up, "Hands in the air and no funny business," she added, cocking the gun until the Doctor, Solomon, and Evy put their hands up as well, "Now tell me, you schmucks, what've you done with Lazlo?"

"Uh, who's Lazlo?" Martha asked, lowering her arms slightly.

The woman just fell back into a seat, disappointed, the gun still aimed at them, "Lazlo's my boyfriend, or was my boyfriend until two weeks ago. No letter, no goodbye, no nothin'. And I'm not stupid," she waved the gun at them, "I know some guys are just pigs but not my Lazlo. I mean, what kinda guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?"

"It might...might just help if you put  _that_  down," the Doctor nodded at the gun.

"Huh?" she looked down, realizing she was still holding it, "Oh, sure," she tossed it onto a chair, "Oh, c'mon. It's not real. It's just a prop. It was either that or a spear."

"What do you think happened to Lazlo?" Martha asked.

"I wish I knew. One minute he's there, the next, zip, vanished."

"Listen, ah...what's your name?" the Doctor began.

"Tallulah."

"Tallulah..." he nodded.

"3 Ls and an H."

"Right," he nodded his head slowly again, "Um, we can try to find Lazlo, but he's not the only one."

"There are more people disappearing every night," Evy added.

"And there are creatures," Solomon added, "Such creatures."

"Whaddaya mean 'creatures?'" Tallulah eyed them.

"Look," the Doctor cut in, "Listen, just trust me. Everyone is in danger. I need to find out exactly what this is," he pulled the purple blob out of his pocket, "Because then I'll know  _exactly_ what we're fighting."

"Yech!" Tallulah said, leaning back away from the blob.

"Well, if we're going to do that," Evy remarked, standing and heading towards the prop room, "Then you're going to need a DNA scanner."

The Doctor's eyes widened as he saw her picking up various items, "You can make one?"

She smirked, looking over at him as she continued scavenging for equipment, "Come now Doctor, I don't just fix things, I can build things too."

"I love you," he said in shock. She just  _kept_  surprising him…

She laughed at that and shook her head, "I'm going to need help though, need a few more parts…"

~8~

Solomon walked over to Evy, a radio in his hand, "How about this? I found it backstage."

"That's perfect Solomon, thanks," Evy smiled at him, taking the radio, "I just need the capacitors," she pried it apart, "Just need to rig up a crude little DNA scanner..."

"If we can get a chromosomal reading, I'll find out where it's from," the Doctor added, pointing the sonic screwdriver at the radio's insides, helping Evy along. He did know a thing or two about DNA scanners.

"How about you, Doctor?" Solomon asked, eyeing him and Evy working side-by-side, "Where are the two of you from? I've been all over. I've never heard anybody talk like you and that girl. Just exactly who are you?"

"Oh, I'm just sort of passing by," he mumbled.

"I'm with him," Evy added, taking a piece of the radio and blowing on it.

"I'm not a fool, Doctor," Solomon stated.

"No," he paused a moment, realizing how that came across, "Sorry."

Solomon sighed and walked over to the sewer lid, looking at it, "I was so scared, Doctor. I let them take Frank 'cos I was just too scared. I gotta get back to Hooverville. With these creatures on the loose, we gotta protect ourselves. Ain't no one else gonna help us."

"Good luck," Evy paused a moment, sending him a hopeful smile.

"I hope you find what you're looking for," he nodded at her in thanks, "For all our sakes."

The two watched him leave for a moment before turning back and fixing up the makeshift DNA scanner.

~8~

They finally got it working just before Tallulah's show was set to start. The only thing they needed now was a beam of light to really get it going, which explained why they were cramped on a balcony by the stage with the blob hooked up to the scanner. It was the perfect place to get to one of the stage lights. Evy reached out and moved one of the lights to settle on the blob as the Doctor put on his glasses, getting ready to examine it.

"That's it," he muttered to himself, "Let's warm you up."

A moment later the show began, but neither the Doctor nor Evy paid much attention to the goings on below them as they focused on the blob. There was a reading on the scanner in Evy's hand, "It's artificial," she said.

"Genetically engineered," he agreed, leaning over to read the scanner as well, smirking to himself, "Whoever this is, oh, you're clever."

He reached out and put his stethoscope on the blob, while Evy read off another reading "Fundamental DNA type 467-989," she blinked, her hearts stopping, "989…"

"Hold on," the Doctor looked up in disbelief, not hearing the realization dawning in her voice, "That means planet of origin…Skaro!"

With that one word he took off running, pulling Evy behind him, not noticing the distressed and terrified look on her face.

~8~

They got down to the main level of the stage amidst chaos. The stage girls were running around in a panic, some holding each other as they talked about the strange creature they'd seen at the side of the stage. The Doctor exchanged a brief look with Evy as they split up to look for Martha.

"Where is she?" the Doctor called to Tallulah as he reached her, "Where's Martha?"

"I don't know," Tallulah said, "She ran off the stage."

Suddenly there was a scream followed by someone else shouting 'Doctor!' and he immediately knew that both Martha and Evy were in serious trouble. He ran in the direction of the calls, to the prop room, only to see that both women were gone.

"Martha!" he called, walking into the room and looking around, "Evy!" he looked down to see the sewer lid was moved and grabbed his coat, putting it on and moving the lid.

"Oh, where are you goin'?" Tallulah asked.

"They've taken them," was all he said.

"Who's taken them?" Tallulah shook her head. He didn't answer, just began to climb down the sewer, "What're y' doin'? I said, what the hell are ya doin'? Crazy guy..." Tallulah looked around before finding a long coat to cover her costume and following him down.

~8~

Evy was relieved to find Martha relatively ok, but now she wasn't too sure how long that would last as she and Martha were dragged through the sewers by pig men.

"No!" Martha shouted, struggling, "Let us go!"

They pushed them against a wall as more pig men entered with other humans, one of whom they recognized.

"Frank!" Evy called, spotting him.

"Evy!" he replied, making his way over to them, "Martha!"

"You're alive!" Martha hugged him quickly.

"Hey," he smiled, returning the hug.

"I thought we'd lost you," Martha mumbled before a pig man pushed them to keep them moving along.

"Alright!" Evy shouted, not liking being pushed, "Alright, we're moving."

"Wait," Frank replied, "Where are they taking us?"

"I don't know," Martha shook her head, "But we can find out what's going on down here."

Evy frowned, if that blob really was from Skaro, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what was going on.

~8~

They were shuffled along in silence until the pig men finally stopped pushing them about. Now they were just standing there, waiting, in a section of the tunnel.

"What are they keeping us here for?" Frank asked out loud.

"I don't know," Evy sighed, rubbing her head.

"I've just got a nasty feeling that we're being kept in the larder," Martha added.

Evy suddenly looked up at a turn in the tunnels, just barely spotting the Doctor poking his head around the corner before ducking back. She knew he'd been wandering the tunnels, trying to find them with Tallulah, running into a half-converted Lazlo along the way. She smiled softly, letting out a breath of relief, though her sense of safety didn't last long as the pig men started squealing nervously.

"What're they doing?" Frank frowned, looking around, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Just then a Dalek glided into the tunnel.

"Daleks," Evy hissed, reaching out reflexively to grab the nearest thing to her for comfort, which happened to be Martha's arm. She had been trying  _so hard_  to believe that what the Doctor had seen in the tunnels, the familiar shadow and alien he hadn't stopped thinking about, was a figment of his imagination and that the blob was just a remnant of Skaro that just  _happened_  to end up in the sewers of New York, but apparently that was too much of a stretch. Of course  _this_  would be too far out there but the Doctor managing to find a horse from pre-revolutionary France attached to the inside of a spaceship wasn't.

The Universe had a sick and twisted sense of humor.

Martha looked up, startled by Evy's voice and the grip on her arm, to see Evy staring at the piece of metal with a look that Martha was sure would haunt her. It was a combination of anger, resentment, sorrow, terror, and the deepest pain she'd only ever seen in one person's eyes before, the Doctor's.

"Evy?" she asked softly, "You ok?"

Before Evy could answer the Dalek turned to the people in the tunnel, "Silence. Silence."

"What the hell is that?" Martha glanced at Evy who had yet to look away, clearly she recognized it.

The Dalek moved away from them, speaking to the prisoners, "You will form a line. Move."

As the pig men began to move towards the prisoners Martha leaned over to pry Evy's hand off her, "Evy, what's wrong? What is that thing?'

Evy swallowed hard, "It's called a Dalek. Behind all that metal casing is a hateful creature, born only to destroy everything and everyone that isn't a Dalek. It won't stop killing, it  _never_ stops…"

Martha looked around at the men trying to resist the pig men, "Just do what it says, everyone," she called out, "Ok? Just obey."

If what Evy said was true, the Dalek wouldn't hesitate to kill the resisters.

"The female is wise," the Dalek replied, "Obey!"

Just then another Dalek entered the tunnel.

"There's more?" Evy's eyes widened as she saw the other one. How was that possible? The Doctor had sent all the Daleks into the Void, hadn't he?

"Report," the second Dalek commanded the first one.

"These are strong specimens," the first Dalek stated, "They will help the Dalek cause. What is the status of the Final Experiment?"

"Final Experiment?" Evy mouthed to herself as she looked up to see the Doctor watching and listening.

"The Dalekanium is in place," the second Dalek reported, "The energy conductor is now complete."

"Then I will extract prisoners for selection," the first Dalek turned to face the line of people, a pig man pushing an older black man forward. The Dalek extended his sucker towards the man's face and scanned him, "Intelligence scan. Initiate. Reading brain waves. Low intelligence."

"You calling me stupid?" the man glared at the Dalek.

"This one will become a pig slave," the first Dalek stated as two pig men pulled him away, struggling as he went. The Dalek barely gave any notice as it moved onto the next man, "Intelligence scan. Initiate."

This continued on until the Dalek made its way to Frank, this time it was Martha's turn to reach out and grab Evy's arm as the Dalek scanned him, "Superior intelligence," Martha wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not but had little time to contemplate it when the Dalek turned to her, "Intelligence scan. Initiate. Superior intelligence."

And finally it turned to Evy. She held her breath as she stared down the eye stalk of the greatest enemy of her people, forcing her hearts to beat one at a time so it wouldn't recognize her as a Time Lady, "Optimal intelligence," the Dalek replied after a moment of scanning.

Evy cursed silently to herself, hoping that the Doctor would just chalk it up to the fact that he thought she was from the 51st century and human brains had evolved a bit more than now. It had been one reason she and Jack had decided to claim she was from the 51st century. She'd proved after her first day at Torchwood that she could never pass as a normal human, not with her knowledge of alien tech and space. Apparently she severely freaked out Tosh and Owen when she started talking and sounded far too much like Jack, Gwen and Ianto though thought it was hysterical when she and Jack would get into debates about what sort of technology the team had found when it was in shambles. She won nearly every time. For her to travel with the Doctor, she wouldn't have been able to hide that much of her intelligence, so they'd come up with her being from the 51st century to make it more believable.

She also silently thanked the stars that the Daleks had only scanned brainwave activity and nothing else, the Perception Filter would do little to protect her from DNA or other sorts of scans. Though she doubted the Daleks had the power left for such detailed scanning, they seemed to be on their last legs, a small comfort.

"This one will become part of the Final Experiment," the Dalek continued.

"You can't just experiment on people!" Martha shouted, realizing what they were planning to do with the superior intelligence people, "It's insane! It's inhuman!"

"They're not human," Evy replied.

"Correct," the Dalek agreed, "Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory."

"Transgenetic," Evy whispered to herself, her eyes widening as she realized what was about to happen. The blob hadn't been a remnant of Skaro, it had somehow been created here using the humans. The Daleks were experimenting with human DNA...she couldn't help but shiver, thinking of the last time Dalek and Human DNA had been mixed...the Doctor had regenerated.

She had little time to think past that as the pig men started to separate the groups and push them past the tunnel where the Doctor was hiding. Subtly, or as subtly as the Doctor could, he fell into line with the group, just in between Martha and her while Lazlo walked along side acting like a guard.

"Just keep walking," the Doctor muttered to the two of them.

"I'm so glad to see you," Martha exclaimed quietly.

"Yeah, well, you can kiss me later," he replied, "You too Evy, if you want," he glanced back to see her staring at the back of his jacket, slightly in shock, and frowned, "Are you alright Evy?"

She shook her head and looked up at him, "I never thought I'd see a Dalek ag…" she caught herself from saying 'again,' knowing that not many humans even in the 51st century had encountered a Dalek before, and instead swallowed, "…after what Jack told me about them."

The Doctor smiled in understanding as he reached behind him and took her hand in his. Of anyone here, he figured she would have the best idea of what they were dealing with.

Evy took a breath, steeling herself for what was going to come. She'd have to face the Daleks again. The last time she'd seen one, it had been shooting her father in the chest as her mother pulled her across towards the Untempered Schism before killing her mother as well.

~8~

They were brought into a rather large lab, considering it was in the sewers, to see yet another Dalek standing there.

"Report," the first Dalek commanded.

"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution," the third Dalek reported.

"So that makes four," Evy mumbled, praying there were no more than that and fearing a bit more now that she knew exactly  _which_  four they were, they had  _names_. She was now coming face-to-face with the Cult of Skaro.

"Scan him," the first Dalek stated, "Prepare for birth."

"Evolution?" the Doctor frowned.

"What's wrong with old Charlie boy over there?" Martha nodded at the immobile Dalek.

"Ask them."

"What me?" Martha gaped at him, "Don't be daft."

"We don't exactly want him to get noticed," Evy cut in, seeing the logic in what the Doctor said, "Just ask...no, demand...from them what's going on."

"Daleks, I demand to be told," Martha called out after taking a breath, "What is this Final Experiment? Report!"

"Nice," Evy whispered, smiling.

"You will bear witness," the first Dalek replied.

"To what?" Martha asked.

"This is the dawn of a new age."

"What does that mean?"

"We are the only four Daleks," it continued, Evy breathed a sigh of relief, "So the species must evolve a life outside the shell. The Children of Skaro must walk again."

Dalek Sec's shell began to power down and the casings opened to reveal a human-Dalek hybrid. Evy's eyes widened in shock as she recognized how it was dressed, in Mr. Diagoras's unmistakable clothing. He looked like a Dalek, with a mouth, one eye, and tentacles, but his hands were almost claw-like and he was humanoid in figure.

"What is it?" Martha asked in disgust.

"I am a human-Dalek," Dalek Sec replied, "I am your future."

No one noticed both the Doctor and Evy turn stone faced at that.

To be continued...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've got a little start of Evy's talents peeking through in the building of the DNA scanner. This is only the beginning of what she can do. And we haven't even gotten to a secret ability of hers :)
> 
> Good news though, I think this is the shortest chapter there will be for a while ;)


	4. Evolution of the Daleks (Part 1)

"These…humans will become like me," Dalek Sec exclaimed. Evy looked back, sensing the Doctor was up to something, only to see him slip away, unnoticed, behind some machinery. She smiled softly to herself as she realized what he was about to do, seeing the plan unfolding in his mind, "Prepare them for hybridization."

The pig men moved closer to the prisoners, grabbing them. One had just gotten his hands on Martha when she shouted, "Leave me alone! Don't you dare!"

Suddenly 'Happy Days are Here Again' began to play and everything stopped. Everyone looked around, wondering where it was coming from, save Evy, who was looking at where the Doctor had disappeared to with a small smirk on her face.

"What is that sound?" Dalek Sec demanded.

The Doctor then appeared out of nowhere, a radio in his hands, "That would be me," he smirked at them, putting the radio down, "Hello. Surprise. Boo. Et cetera."

Evy couldn't help but snort despite the fact that the Doctor was staring down an enemy that would most likely kill him in an instant. He was brave that way.

"Doctor," Dalek Sec acknowledged.

"The enemy of the Daleks," the first Dalek shouted.

"Exterminate," the second Dalek called.

"Wait," Dalek Sec ordered.

"Well, then," the Doctor replied, eyeing Dalek Sec as he walked towards him, "A new form of Dalek. Fascinating and very clever."

"The Cult of Skaro escaped your slaughter."

"How did you end up in 1930?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Emergency Temporal Shift."

He scoffed, "Oh, that must have roasted up your power cells, yeah?" he looked around at their pitiful forms, "Time was, four Daleks could have conquered the world but instead your skulking away, hidden in the dark, experimenting. All of which results in you."

"I am Dalek in human form."

"What does it feel like? You can talk to me, Dalek Sec. It is Dalek Sec, isn't it? That's your name? You've got a name and a mind of your own. Tell me what you're thinking right now."

"I…feel…humanity," Dalek Sec said after a moment.

"Good," he nodded, "That's good."

After another moment Dalek Sec spoke again, "I…feel…everything we wanted from mankind, which is ambition, hatred, aggression, and war. Such…a genius for war."

"No, that's not what humanity means."

"I think it does," Evy frowned at Dalek Sec's words, she could swear he was smirking, "At heart, this species is so very…Dalek."

"Alright, so what have you achieved then?" the Doctor asked, "With this Final Experiment, eh? Nothing! 'Cos I can show you what you're missing with this thing," he walked over to the radio, pointing at it, "Simple little radio…"

"What is the purpose of that device?" the second Dalek stalked him carefully, watching as he patted the radio.

"Well, exactly," he smiled, "It plays music. What's the point of that? Oh, with music, you can dance to it, sing with it, fall in love to it. Unless you're a Dalek of course…"

"Cover your ears," Evy hissed to Martha and Frank, covering her ears as the others did so as well in confusion, the rest of the prisoners doing the same when they saw the small trio move.

"Then it's just noise," the Doctor finished, before aiming the sonic screwdriver at the radio. A high-pitched wail emanated from it, causing the Daleks to jerk back and Dalek Sec to cover his ears in pain along with the pig men.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted, leading the group of prisoners through the doors. They ran through the sewers, Martha in the lead till they came to a cross. She stopped, looking around, unsure, when the Doctor rushed past, leading them again, "Come on! Move, move, move, move, move!"

Around another corner they darted past the lost Tallulah, "Tallulah!" Evy called, "Run!"

"What's happened to Lazlo?" she looked around as Martha grabbed her and pulled her away.

"C'mon!" the Doctor yelled, seeing a ladder and motioning for everyone to climb up, "Everyone up!"

~8~

Back in Hooverville that night the Doctor immediately sought out Solomon to explain the situation to him, hoping he would be able to mobilize the others and convince them to leave. But the way it was going, it didn't seem likely.

"These Daleks, they sound like the stuff of nightmares," Solomon remarked as they stood around the campfire, "And they wanna breed?"

"They're splicing themselves into human bodies," Evy commented from her position sitting on a crate next to Martha and Tallulah, absently staring into the fire, frowning. She was worried, she wasn't going to deny it. For the Daleks to be willing to splice themselves with humans, they had to be very,  _very_  desperate...and a desperate Dalek was the most dangerous kind.

The Doctor nodded, "If I'm right, they've got a farm of breeding stock right here in Hooverville. We've got to get everyone out."

"Hooverville's the lowest place a man can fall," Solomon shook his head, "There's nowhere else to go."

"I'm sorry, Solomon. You've got to scatter. Go anywhere. Down to the railroads, travel across state, just get out of New York."

"There's got to be a way to reason with these things…"

"There's not a chance," Martha scoffed.

"They won't listen," Evy added, closing her eyes as she sighed, "They  _never_  listen."

"You ain't seen 'em, boss," Frank agreed.

"Daleks are bad enough at anytime," the Doctor confirmed, "But right now they're vulnerable and that makes them more dangerous than ever."

Just then a man came running into camp, a gun in his hand, "They're coming! They're coming!"

"A sentry," Solomon told them, springing into action, "Must have seen something."

"They're here!" the sentry continued to shout, "I seen 'em! Monsters! They're monsters!"

"It's started," the Doctor breathed, knowing what was coming next.

"We're under attack!" Solomon turned to the men around him, "Everyone to arms!"

The men began running around, grabbing what guns they could from where they'd stashed them.

"No!" Evy shouted, getting up, "You can't fight them! They'll kill you!"

They just ignored her.

"I'm ready, boss!" Frank called, rushing over to them and taking a place next to Solomon, "But all o' you find a weapon! Use anything!"

"Come back!" Solomon shouted as various campers ran off, trying to find more weapons, "We gotta stick together! It's not safe out there! Come back!"

The next thing they knew pig men were running through Hooverville, attacking anyone who got in their way or tried to escape, every pig pushing the people back towards the center.

"We need to get out of the park," Martha looked around in concern, seeing the people being pushed back.

"We can't!" Evy shook her head.

"They're on all sides," the Doctor agreed, "They're driving people back towards us."

"We're trapped," Tallulah realized.

"Then we stand together," Solomon decided, "Gather 'round. Everybody come to me. You there, Jethro, Harry, Seamus, stay together," the campers crowded around, pressing together near the fire as the pig men surrounded them, "They can't take all of us."

And with that, he opened fire on the pigs, followed by anyone and everyone that had guns.

Martha looked around frantically, watching as the pig men and the campers attacked, "If we can just hold them off till daylight," she muttered hopefully.

"It's not them we have to worry about," Evy replied. Martha looked over to see her staring at the sky.

"They're just the foot soldiers," the Doctor agreed his eyes on the sky as well.

Martha looked up, followed by the campers to see a Dalek flying above them, headed right for them, "Oh my God!"

"What in this world…" Solomon's eyes widened as he saw the creature flying there.

"It's the devil," the sentry called, "A devil in the sky. God save us all. It's damnation."

"Oh yeah?" Frank glared at it, recognizing it as the metal thing from the sewers, "We'll see about that!" he fired at the Dalek but did no damage.

Evy reached over and put a hand on Frank's arm, stilling him, "That's not gonna work Frank."

"There's more than one of them!" Martha shouted as a second Dalek joined the first.

They began to attack, flying through the sky and blasting anything that moved. There were fires springing up as the Daleks fired at the makeshift shelters. People screamed in pain as they were thrown away from the blasts and hit by the Daleks.

Evy clenched her eyes shut, "Not again," she muttered to herself. There were women and children here, young men too young to fight in her opinion. It was just like the war all over again, the cries of exterminate, the lasers, the death...she shook her head, "Please, not again..."

Martha looked over at her friend in concern, about to reach out to her when the Daleks spoke.

"The humans will surrender!"

"Leave them alone!" the Doctor shouted at them, "They've done nothing to you!" Solomon began to step forward when he grabbed the man by the arm, "No, Solomon. Stay back."

"I'm told that I'm addressin' the Daleks, is that right?" Solomon ignored him, focusing on the Daleks instead, "From what I hear, you're outcasts, too."

"Solomon, don't," Evy warned, having opened her eyes when Solomon spoke.

"Look this is my township, you will respect my authority," Solomon glared at her and the Doctor.

"Solomon,  _please_ ," Evy all but begged, tears in her eyes for the man, "There is  _no_  negotiating with Daleks. They don't bend to anyone. They'll kill you where you stand. Please."

Solomon stared at her, his gaze softening just a bit at her concern, "Just let me try," he pushed the Doctor away. He could only step back, shaking his head, as Solomon approached the Dalek again, "Daleks…ain't we all the same? Underneath, ain't we all kin?" he put his rifle down, "'Cos, see, I've just discovered this past day God's Universe is a thousand times the size I thought it was. And that scares me. Oh, yeah. Terrifies me. Right down to the bone. But it's got to give me hope…hope that maybe together we can make a better tomorrow. So I…I beg you now if you have any compassion in your hearts then you'll meet with us and stop this fight. Well…what do you say?"

Evy turned away moments before the Dalek powered up.

"Exterminate!" the second Dalek declared, firing on him, killing him where he stood, just as Evy had warned.

"No!" Frank shouted as the residents of Hooverville began to scream. He ran towards Solomon's body as the campers scattered in panic, "Solomon!"

"They killed him," Martha gaped in shock, "They just shot him on the spot."

"It's what they do," Evy replied coldly, angry at the Daleks as she stared at Solomon's prone form.

"Daleks!" the Doctor spat to himself before moving to stand in front of the campers that remained. "Alright, so it's my turn! Then kill me! Kill me if it'll stop you attacking these people!"

"Doctor!" Evy shouted, trying to step forward, but Frank grabbed her, holding her back. She had no idea what he was thinking. No, she knew he  _wasn'_ t thinking. His mind was so jumbled, all he could feel was anger and hate…thinking of all the Daleks had already taken from him. It was making him reckless.

"I will be the destroyer of our greatest enemy," the Dalek exclaimed, raising its weapon.

"Then do it!" he shouted, beating his chest in fury, "Do it! Just do it! Do it!"

Evy struggled in Frank's arms, "No! Let me go! He can't!"

Martha looked at her alarmed at how hard she was struggling before she moved to help Frank. There was something in Evy's eyes, this was far more than concern for the Doctor. She could see it, a fear in the woman's green eyes, a fear for his death and something much worse than that...

"Extermin…" the Dalek began only to stop suddenly, "I do not understand. It is the Doctor," the Doctor looked back at the group, clearly as confused as they were as to the one sided conversation they were hearing, "The urge to kill is too strong," he turned back to face the Dalek as it lowered its weapon, "I…obey."

"What's going on?" the Doctor demanded as he stared at his enemy.

"You will follow," was all the Dalek said.

"No!" Martha shouted, running forward, "You can't go!"

Evy pushed her way out of Frank's grip and went to stand by Martha, "He's got to go," she said quietly, though it seemed like everyone could hear her, "The Daleks changed their minds, they  _never_  change their minds."

"But what about us?" Martha looked between Evy and the Doctor.

"I'll stay with you," she said, looking over at the Doctor giving him a meaningful look. He frowned a bit but nodded nonetheless. She knew about Daleks, obviously, she was aware of the danger. She was also the most capable of dealing with what might come, being from the 51st century and all. She would be able to handle things here till he could get back.

But still…just to be safe…he turned back to the Daleks, "One condition! If I come with you, you spare the lives of everyone here! Do you hear me?"

The Dalek was silent for a minute before speaking, "The humans will be spared. Doctor…follow."

"Then I'm coming with you," Martha challenged, trying to step up but Evy pulled her back.

"Martha, stay here," the Doctor told her, "Do what you do best. People are hurt. You can help them. Let me go," Martha could only look on as the Doctor turned to follow the Daleks, hurt and afraid for him. Suddenly he turned and rushed back, "Oh, and can I just say, thank you very much."

He reached out, grabbing Martha's hand, and pressing something into it, winking at the two of them before walking off.

Martha looked down at her hand once the Daleks were gone to see the Doctor's psychic paper.

"What..." she mumbled to herself.

"Psychic paper," Evy answered, her eyes trained on the Doctor's retreating figure, knowing she had to trust him on this. Once he was out of sight she turned to Martha, "Come on, we've got to check the people."

Martha frowned as Evy tugged her gently and led her towards a group of men huddled on the ground, injured.

~8~

Evy sat off to the side, her hands clasped together, her chin resting on them, in thought, as Martha tended to the last of the injured. This was the least severe wound they'd seen so far.

"Here you go," Tallulah called, brining in a pot of water, "I got some more on the boil."

"Thanks," Martha looked up at her before turning to the man, "You'll be alright. It's just a cut. Try and keep it clean."

"Thanks," he replied. getting up and leaving.

"So what about us?" Tallulah asked, leaning against the wall. "What do we do now?"

"The Doctor gave me this," Martha said, pulling out the psychic paper and holding it up for Tallulah to see, "He must have had a reason."

"What's that for?"

"It's psychic paper," Evy replied, frowning as she looked at the ground, unseeing as she explained it, "It can be used to get you into places, buildings and things. But where?" the two women looked at her a bit concerned as she began mumbling more to herself than talking to them, "He must want us to go somewhere but where? What's he planning?" she frowned in thought, it was all a work-in-progress in his mind, making it up as he went, as always, "The blob, clearly a failed experiment. Transgenetic, conversion of one DNA to another…means experiment on Dalek DNA. The final experiment needed humans…converting humans to Daleks, yes…but not  _true_  Daleks…superior intelligence…brain waves…replacing their  _brains_  with a Dalek's, with their ideals! But to convert that…the energy needed…"

"Wait a minute," Martha's voice cut in, recalling something from Evy's mutterings, "Down in the sewers the Daleks mentioned this…energy conductor."

"What does that mean?" Tallulah asked.

"I don't know. Maybe like a…lightning conductor or…

"Dalekanium!" Evy shouted, jumping up, "They said the Dalekanium was in place."

"In place where?" Tallulah shook her head, just barely following along.

"Frank might know," Martha said before rushing out of the tent. Tallulah and Evy followed after, Tallulah coming to stand next to Martha as she spotted Frank while Evy just turned to look at something in the distance, "Frank?"

"Hm?" he looked up.

"That Mr. Diagoras, he was like some sort of fixer, yeah?" Martha asked, "Get you jobs all over town?"

"Yeah. He could find a profit anywhere."

"But where though? What sort of things?"

"You name it. We're all so desperate for work, you just hoped Diagoras would pick you for something good. Building work. That pays the best."

"But what sort of building work?"

"Can't you guess?" Evy spoke up. They turned to look at her staring at the Empire State Building.

"Mainly building that," Frank nodded.

" _That's_  the energy conductor," Evy replied, looking as though she were staring at it but not really seeing it, like her mind was elsewhere, "Dalek Sec was the genetic template. His DNA would be used to convert the humans they've collected. But they'd need a huge blast of gamma radiation to splice it to the human genetic codes. And just our luck the greatest solar flare for a thousand years will hit the Earth today," she shook her head at the plan unraveling in her mind, hearing the Doctor's conversation with Dalek Sec, "Gamma radiation would be drawn to the energy conductor and when it strikes it would travel down the length of the building and into their lab, which I'd guess is right under it."

"How do you know that?" Martha asked, eyes wide in confusion and surprise.

Evy looked over at Martha, as though just remembering the humans were standing there, and swallowed hard, her mind racing, "Um...DNA splicing becomes common knowledge in the 47th century, they actually teach it in biology classes in schools."

It was true enough, it  _was_  common knowledge by then and the schools _did_  teach it in biology...but that was not at all where she'd learned it. She had to be careful though, if Martha let something slip to the Doctor that didn't fit into the 51st century story she'd given him, he might become suspicious enough to start noticing the Perception Filter, and she couldn't risk that happening.

Martha just shook her head, sometimes it was so easy to forget the girl was technically from the future, "I can't say I understand that completely, but I get the gist, we need to get up there, don't we?" Evy nodded, "That must be why the Doctor gave us the paper."

"Well, let's get moving," Tallulah announced, heading towards the tower. From what she gleamed of the conversation, something about DNA and the building, maybe there was something there that would help change Lazlo back.

~8~

They managed to get into the building with little trouble, thanks to the paper, and were currently on the lift up when Martha spoke, trying to alleviate the tension, "I always wanted to go to the Empire State. Never imagined it quite like this though."

"Where are we headed anyway?" Frank asked.

"To the top where they're still building," Evy answered.

"How come those guys just let us through?" Tallulah frowned, looking at the paper in Martha's hands, "How's that thing work?"

"The psychic paper shows them whatever the holder wants them to think," Evy replied.

Martha nodded, handing the paper to Frank to look at, "According to this, we're two engineers, an electrician, and an architect."

Evy frowned as she concentrated on the Doctor, listening into the rest of Dalek Sec's plans. She nearly laughed out loud when the Doctor found out the solar flare the Daleks were waiting on was only eleven minutes away. She was stuck between wanting to strangle him the next time she saw him for even considering  _helping_  the  _Daleks_  and hugging him for being as hopeful that things might change for the better if he did. She rolled her eyes as she felt him get to work. She really should have expected that he would help them.

Only the Doctor would be willing to help a race of sociopaths.

The lift dinged, pulling her out of her thoughts. The doors opened to reveal the top floor of the building, "Look at this place!" Tallulah exclaimed as they stepped in, "Top of the world!"

Martha looked over and saw some architectural plans scattered about, "Ok, now this looks good," she commented, walking over to them with Frank and Evy.

"Hey, look at the date," Frank caught as Martha flipped through a few, "These designs were issued today. They must've changed something last minute."

"You mean the Daleks changed something?"

"Yeah, could be."

"The ones underneath, they're from before," Evy confirmed.

"That means that whatever they changed must be on this top sheet but not this one," Martha reasoned, pulling the two off, "We need to check one against the other."

"The height of this place!" Tallulah commented in the background, "This is amazing!"

"Careful, we're a hundred floors up," Martha warned as Evy and Frank put the plans on the floor to compare, "Don't go wandering off."

"I just wanna see," she remarked, walking over to an open area, moments later she called back to them, "New York City. If aliens had to come to Earth, no wonder they came here."

Evy's frown increased when she looked up to see Tallulah returning. She currently had the Doctor in the back of her mind, only those pieces of information that he determined to be important drifted to the forefront. Right now, it was the life span of the pig men. Poor Lazlo...

"I'll go and keep an eye out," Frank's voice cut in, pulling her gaze away from Tallulah and back to the plans on the floor, "Make sure we're safe up here. Don't want nobody buttin' in."

He walked off as Tallulah came to stand beside them, "There's a hell of a storm movin' in."

"I wish the Doctor was here," Martha muttered, scanning the plans, "He'd know what we're looking for."

"So tell me, where did you two and him first hook up?" Tallulah asked, if for something to talk about.

"Martha and the Doctor were visiting and decided to pick me up," Evy commented offhandedly.

"It was in a hospital, sort of," Martha gave her own first meeting.

"'Course, him bein' a doctor," Tallulah nodded, kneeling next to Martha.

"Actually, I'm a doctor," Martha smiled, "Well, kind of."

"You're a physician?" Tallulah's eyes widened and Martha nodded, "Really?"

"I was training. Still am, if I ever get back home."

"You could be doctors together! What a partnership. Oh, it's such a shame. If only he wasn't so…different. You know what I mean?"

"Oh, you have no idea how different he really is," Evy muttered.

"Yeah, he's a man, sweetheart," Tallulah grinned, "That's different enough."

Martha leaned back a bit, seeing Evy focused on the plans, and turned to look at Tallulah more, "He had this…companion a while back. This friend."

"Rose," Evy added.

Martha frowned and looked at her curiously, "Yeah…that was her name, Rose…" she shook her head, maybe that Jack bloke had told her, clearly he knew the Doctor so he might have known Rose too, and turned back to Tallulah, "And ever since then he's been on his own. But you know, sometimes I say something or do something and he looks at me, and I just sort of think…that he's not seeing me. He's just remembering."

"Aw, listen sweetheart," Tallulah put a hand on her shoulder, "You wanna get all sad? You wanna have a contest with me and Lazlo?"

"No," Martha shook her head, "But listen, if the Doctor's with Lazlo now, there's every chance that he could get him out."

"And then what?" Tallulah sighed, "Don't talk crazy. There's no future for me and him. Those Dalek things took that away. The one good thing I had in my life and they destroyed it," she choked up at the end and stood, walking away to look outside once more.

"He's not remembering Rose, you know," Evy said softly, drawing Martha's attention.

She looked up to see Evy frowning at the plans in frustration, "What do you mean?"

Evy looked up, smiling slightly, she  _really_  shouldn't say this, lest Martha become suspicious of how she knew, but...to hear the woman thinking so little of herself, she couldn't bear it, "You and Rose are two  _very_  different people. You say and do things that Rose wouldn't. So no, I don't think he's remembering Rose, especially when there's nothing to spark the remembrance besides the fact you're like a companion too," she reached out and laid a hand on Martha's on the floor, "If you want my opinion, I think he's reconsidering telling you this is only a trip."

"You think he'd let me stay?" she asked, her eyes wide with hope.

"I think he's leaning more and more in that direction," she nodded, "Yeah," she glanced over to see Tallulah standing there, her shoulders shaking a bit, "Can you handle this a moment?" she nodded towards Tallulah.

Martha nodded, smiling a bit more, as Evy got up and made her way over to Tallulah.

"Does it really matter?" Evy asked quietly as she came to stand beside the showgirl.

"Does what?" she sniffled, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her coat.

"What he looks like?" Evy clarified, "Do you  _really_  care? He  _loves_  you."

"I love him too. But…his face…"

"What do you think is worse?" she cut in, "Never seeing Lazlo again,  _ever_? Or seeing him with a slightly different face?"

Tallulah was silent a moment, "Never seeing him again."

Evy smiled, putting an arm around the woman's shoulders, "There's your answer then."

Tallulah laughed and turned to hug the other woman, "Thanks."

Evy just nodded and led her back to Martha just as the woman pointed to something on the plans, "Gotcha! Look!" the two women knelt down and saw that Martha was pointing to the base of the building's mast, "There, on the mast. Those little lines? They're new. They've added something, see?"

"Added what?" Tallulah frowned.

"Dalekanium!" Evy exclaimed, her eyes widening. Suddenly she whirled around to face the lift, the others turning to see that the arm was moving, "The Doctor's coming," she turned to them before rushing out onto the open platform, "I'm going to go try and get the Dalekanium down, you've got to tell the Doctor what's going on!"

She left no room to argue as she began to climb swiftly up a ladder that would lead to the mast.

"But the storm!" Martha called, rushing to the platform, "Evy!"

"Just help the Doctor!" she called back, already halfway up to the mast.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite her best efforts it seems our dear Martha Jones is becoming just a wee bit suspicious...she's only gonna notice more from here. Wonder what will happen if she confronts Evy about it...hmmm...
> 
> I always felt so bad for Martha, thinking she was second best to Rose, I really wanted Evy to be able to bond with her a bit, give her a peek into the Doctor's mind even if Martha doesn't know that. Lol, the Doctor probably doesn't even know he's thinking that, but Evy has had a direct connection to his mind for...quite a while (how long will be revealed soon) and I think, after all that time, she knows him better than he knows himself :)
> 
> As for Evy's reaction to the Doctor shouting at the Daleks to kill him, she is very much afraid of something else on top of fearing for the Doctor's life. It will definitely be explained fairly soon, but I will say this, for all the good and connection the Link can provide, there is definitely a darker side to it.


	5. Evolution of the Daleks (Part 2)

Martha looked back to see the arrow on the lift was starting to move. She ran towards it, waiting impatiently for the doors to open.

"Doctor!" she shouted when the Doctor and Lazlo were revealed.

"First floor, perfumery," the Doctor greeted with a grin.

"I never thought I'd see you again!" Tallulah exclaimed, running to Lazlo and hugging him, Evy's words ringing in her head. If she had anything to say about it, she was never letting the man out of her sight again!

"No stopping me," he remarked, burying his face in her neck.

"We worked it out," Martha turned to the Doctor, leading him over to the plans and pointing to the mast, "We know what they've done. There's Dalekanium on the mast. And it's good to see you too, by thy way."

"Oh, come here," the Doctor laughed, pulling Martha into a bear hug, spinning her around a bit before suddenly dropping her as the bell to the lift dinged and the doors shut. He ran over to them, trying to stop them, "No, no, no. See, never waste time with a hug," he pulled out the sonic screwdriver and flashed it over the panel before frowning, "It's a deadlock seal. I can't stop it."

"Where's it going?"

"Right down to the Daleks. And they're not going to leave us alone up here. What's the time?"

"11:15," Frank answered, walking into the room at the noise.

"Six minutes to go," he muttered, "I've got to remove the Dalekanium before the gam…"

"Gamma radiation hits," Martha finished, "Yeah, we know."

"How?" he turned to face her, absolutely stunned.

"Evy figured it out," Martha shrugged.

"Really?" his eyes widened, that was astounding. The fact that she was able to figure that out from such little information...that was brilliant actually. He looked around but couldn't seem to spot her. A cold pit began to form in the bottom of his stomach, quickly spreading as his mind rapidly came up with horrible reasons why she wasn't there, "Where is she?"

"Up on the mast," Martha pointed to the platform at the edge of the construction area, "She's trying to get the Dalekanium down."

He quickly ran outside, the group following, but paused when he caught sight of the city, "Oh, that's high. That's very…blimey, that's high."

"And Evy's gone even higher," Martha pointed up the ladder, "That's the mast up there, look. There's three pieces of Dalekanium at the base."

He glared up the ladder, "Evy!"

"What?" her voice echoed down to them after a moment, just barely able to be heard through the storm moving in.

"What in the bloody hell are you doing?"

"I've got to get the Dalekanium off!"

"She's either stupid or entirely too brave," the Doctor commented as lightning flashed in the sky. He turned to Martha, "I'm going up there and getting her down.  _I'll_  worry about the Dalekanium."

"I won't just stand here and watch you two…" Martha began but the Doctor cut her off.

"You're gonna have your hands full, anyway. I'm sorry, Martha, but you've got to fight."

He turned and rushed up the ladder before Martha could even argue and began to climb up the scaffolding towards the mast. He could just make out another figure already up there, struggling with something. How that girl managed to get up there in the first place was beyond him, with the rain pelting him and the winds blowing fiercely, _he_  was having a hard time getting up. Finally he reached the base of the mast and moved to Evy's side, he could already feel her shaking from the cold.

"I can't get them off," she told him, still straining to try and pry the bars of alien metal off with her bare hands, "They've been welded on with something, I think only a sonic could help get if of now."

"Lucky me," he replied, pulling out the sonic screwdriver. Evy made a move to grab it but he pulled it back beyond her reach, "No, this is  _my_  job."

"But…"

"Go and help Martha," he told her, but she made no move to leave, "Please. I'd feel better if you're down there with them."

Evy frowned, not wanting to leave him to do this by himself but knowing that Martha needed her too. The Daleks had likely sent pig men up the lift to attack and the humans would need all the help they could get. She sighed and nodded, moving to head down. The base of the mast was small even with just one person on it, two people trying to work there with one sonic device wouldn't help anything and only serve to complicate matters to the point where they both might be in danger of falling.

She carefully climbed down the scaffolding and the ladder that led to the platform only to see Lazlo was down, resting against the wall, with Tallulah beside him. Martha and Frank were standing in front of the lift with makeshift weapons comprised of office supplies, both hunched over in terror. She looked around to see metal pipes lying around just as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky, giving her an idea.

"We'll get slaughtered!" Martha was saying.

"Not today!" Evy replied, running in, dragging two metal pipes behind her. They turned to face her, staring at the pipes, "Lightning is attracted to metal isn't it?"

That was all the incentive they needed to grab more pipes and set them up leading towards the lift.

"Aw, you'll be alright sweetheart," she heard Tallulah whispering to Lazlo, "Don't you worry," she looked up to see Martha, Frank, and Evy working on the pipes, "What the hell are you clowns doin'?"

"Even if the Doctor manages to stop the Dalekanium, this place is going to get hit regardless," Evy remarked, positioning a pipe, "The right strike of lightning will send electricity all down this building. If we connect these pipes to the lift then they get zapped in the process."

"Oh my God, that could work!"

"Then give us a hand," Frank grunted.

Tallulah was on her feet and helping him move a pipe as Martha moved a metal item in front of the elevator. Evy had just finished moving the last pipe into place when she stiffened and turned to face the platform. The Doctor had just dropped the sonic screwdriver. She ran out onto the platform, knowing almost instinctively where it had fallen. She reached down and picked it up.

It was too late, though, she'd never be able to get it back to the Doctor in time. She looked up suddenly, her eyes wide as she realized what the Doctor was about to do, "Doctor!" she tried to shout up to him.

"Evy!" Martha called to her, motioning for her to get back in the room. She looked over to see that they had finished setting up and were all crowding around a pillar just as the arrow on the lift passed the 95th floor.

She ran into the room, crouching next to another pillar, nearer to the platform, just as the doors to the lift opened and lightning struck the building. Martha turned back to face the lift just as Evy collapsed on the floor, convulsing in pain, biting her lip to keep from shouting out, as she felt as though she had been struck by lightning, but knowing it was the Doctor that was in trouble, not her.

Moments later, her head was buzzing and her body felt like it was made of lead. She looked up to see Martha and the others starting to get up and walk towards the lift. She pushed herself up, grunting at the stiffness she now felt in her body. She knew though, that whatever she was feeling now was nothing compared to what the Doctor had felt.

That was a downside to the Link, she felt what he felt…good or bad…it could be enormously helpful, that she would know when he was in danger or pain and be able to alert others to move in and help him. But...she felt it as though it were happening to her, not as strongly, but she did feel it. Whether it was something as small as a slap to as damaging as a wound that led to regeneration, she felt it.

"We did it," Tallulah was saying as they stared at the dead pig men lying on the floor of the lift.

"They used to be like Lazlo," Martha shook her head, "They were people and we killed 'em."

"No, the  _Daleks_  killed them," Evy replied, her voice hoarse, "Long ago."

"What about the Doctor?" Frank said suddenly before Martha rushed outside with Evy following behind, Evy slightly slower than the rest as she was still working out the stiffness.

They came upon the Doctor, lying on his back, unconscious, near the base of the mast.

"Doctor!" Martha called as she carefully knelt on one side of him, Evy on the other, "Doctor!"

"He's fine," Evy breathed, feeling his presence through the Link, reassuring her, "He's just going to have a massive headache."

"Oh my head," the Doctor groaned as though to confirm Evy's words as he woke up.

"Hiya," Martha greeted, relieved.

"Hi," the Doctor peeked at her, glancing at Evy as well, "You survived then."

"You're getting careless," Evy smiled a bit, waving the sonic screwdriver at him.

He shook his head and reached out to take it, settling back down in pain.

"I can't help noticing…" Martha began, just slightly worried, "There's Dalekanium still attached."

 _That_  got the Doctor up and about.

~8~

"The Daleks will have gone straight to a war footing," the Doctor informed them as they looked out at the city.

"They'll probably use the sewers to spread their new soldiers out underneath Manhattan," Evy agreed.

"How do we stop them?" Lazlo asked, leaning heavily on Tallulah.

"There's only one chance," the Doctor said, "I got in the way. That gamma strike went zapping though me first."

"But what does that mean?" Martha frowned.

"We need to draw fire," the Doctor replied, not entirely answering her question, "Before they can attack New York, I need to face them. Think, think, think, think. We need some sort of space, somewhere safe, somewhere out of the way..."

"The theater!" Evy shouted.

"Tallulah!" the Doctor spun to face the showgirl.

"That's me," she held up a hand, "Three Ls and an H."

"Evy's right, the theater, it's right above them, and, what, it's gone midnight?" he asked, "Can you get us inside?"

"Don't see why not," she shrugged.

"Is there another lift?" he looked around.

"We came up in the service elevator," Martha replied, heading over to it.

"That'll do," he nodded.

"Allons-y!" Evy called with a smile, walking over to Martha.

The Doctor's smile dropped comically as he pouted a bit, "I was gonna say that."

~8~

They entered the darkened theater which now gave off an ominous feeling rather than the welcoming presence it had before.

"This should do it," the Doctor said as he looked around and pulled out the sonic screwdriver, "Here we go."

"There ain't nothin' more creepy than a theater in the dark," Tallulah commented, "Listen, Doctor, I know you got a thing for showtunes, but there's a time and place, huh?" Lazlo collapsed into one of the chairs, "Lazlo, what's wrong?" she sat next to him.

"Nothing," he shook his head, breathing heavily, "It's just so hot."

Tallulah frowned, "But…it's freezing in here. Doctor, what's happening to him?

"Not now Tallulah," he replied, listening to the screwdriver, checking the frequency, "Sorry."

"What are you doing?" Martha asked, watching him.

"He's adjusting the subwave feed," Evy replied automatically, before wincing, hoping no one thought much of that. Not many people were familiar with sonic screwdrivers, especially not all the things they could do. But she let out a breath as no one even batted an eyelash, too focused on what the Doctor was doing and what might happen as a result.

"If the Daleks are going to war, they'll wanna find their number one enemy," the Doctor added, "I'm just telling them where I am," he held it up and turned it on, a high-pitched sound emitting from it.

~8~

"I'm telling you to go," the Doctor argued with Martha as she and Frank stood defiantly before him. Evy was sitting in a chair, her arms crossed, just watching them while Tallulah worried about Lazlo, "Frank can take you back to Hooverville."

"And I'm telling you I'm not going," she countered.

"Martha, that's an order."

"Who are you, then? Some sort of Dalek?"

"Martha don't," Evy defended him, getting up, about to explain why the Doctor wanted them in Hooverville, when the doors to the theater burst open and two lines of humans with very large guns entered and flanked them on both sides.

"Oh, my God!" Tallulah shrank back in her chair, "Well I guess that's them then, huh?"

"Humans…with Dalek DNA," Evy confirmed.

Frank moved to attack one but the Doctor pulled him back, "It's alright. Just stay calm. Don't antagonize them."

"But what about the Dalek masters?" Lazlo asked, "Where are they?"

Just as he finished an explosion occurred on the stage. They ducked back behind the seats for cover, avoiding the rain of broken wood, before peering over the seats to see two Daleks on the stage with Dalek Sec chained between them, crawling. The Doctor slowly stood, Evy following his example while the others peeked over the chairs.

"The Doctor will stand before the Daleks," the first Dalek ordered. The Doctor stepped over a chair and began to walk forward on their backs till he reached the front row, "You will die, Doctor. It is the beginning of a new age."

"Planet Earth will become New Skaro," the second Dalek replied as both the Doctor and Evy glared at him.

"Oh, and what a world," the Doctor commented, "With anything just the slightest bit different ground into the dirt. That's Dalek Sec. Don't you remember? The cleverest Dalek ever and look what you've done to him. Is that your new empire? Hmm? Is that the foundation for a whole new civilization?"

"My Daleks…" Dalek Sec said, leaning towards the two Daleks, pleading, "Just understand this. If you choose death and destruction, then death and destruction will choose you."

"Incorrect," the first Dalek replied, "We will always survive."

"Now we will destroy our greatest enemy, the Doctor," the second added.

"But he can help you," Dalek Sec argued.

"The Doctor must die," the first Dalek stated.

"No, I beg you, don't," Dalek Sec crawled in front of the first Dalek.

"Exterminate!" the second Dalek ordered. Dalek Sec stood up just as the first Dalek fired at the Doctor and was killed instead of the Time Lord.

"Your own leader," the Doctor said, disgust evident in his voice, "The only creature who might have led you out of the darkness and you destroyed him," he turned to the human Daleks, "Do you see what they did? Huh? You see what a Dalek really is? If I'm gonna die, let's give the new boys a shot. What do you think, eh? The Dalek-Humans. Their first blood. Go on, baptize them," he held out his arms to the side, vulnerable.

"Dalek-Humans, take aim," the first Dalek ordered, the men cocked their weapons and aimed.

Martha jerked forward, about to do something, when Evy grabbed her and pulled her back. "Trust him," she whispered, more calm about this baiting of the Daleks than the last. This time, he had a plan. This time, he wasn't doing it out of anger.

"What are you waiting for?" the Doctor asked, "Give the command!"

"Exterminate!" the second Dalek ordered again.

The Doctor closed his eyes as Martha turned away to bury her face in Frank's chest, but nothing happened.

"Exterminate!" the second Dalek repeated, but still nothing happened.

"Obey," the first Dalek commanded, "Dalek-Humans will obey."

"They're not firing," Martha breathed, turning back.

"No, they aren't," Evy smiled.

"What have you done?" Martha stared at the Doctor.

"He got struck first," Evy answered for him.

"You will obey," the second Dalek ordered, "Exterminate."

"Why?" the first human asked as the Doctor looked over at him.

"Daleks do not question orders," the first Dalek stated.

"But why?"

"You will stop this."

"But…why?"

"You must not question!"

"But you are not our master," the human responded, "And we…we are not Daleks."

"No, you're not, and you never will be," the Doctor replied, turning back to the Daleks, "Sorry, I got in the way of the lightening strike. Time Lord DNA got all mixed up. Just that little bit of freedom."

"If they will not obey, then they must die," the second Dalek determined before shooting the human who had spoken.

"Get down!" Evy shouted, pulling Martha and Frank down with her as the Doctor ducked.

"Exterminate!" the Daleks shouted as both sides opened fire on each other, "Exterminate!"

There were blasts flying overhead as humans began to fall, but then the remarkable happened. The second Dalek was destroyed as was the first Dalek a few moments later. The humans ceased fire.

The group slowly stood up, the Doctor making his way over to one of the humans, "It's alright," he told them, reaching out to lower their weapons, "It's alright. It's alright. You did it. You're free."

Moments later, though, the hybrids grabbed their heads in pain.

"No!" the Doctor shouted, his eyes widening as he realized what was happening. The humans began crumbling to the floor, writhing in pain, "They can't! They can't! They can't!"

"What happened?" Martha asked as she and Evy ran up to one of the bodies, "What was that?"

"They killed 'em," the Doctor replied, "Rather than let them live. An entire species. Genocide."

"Only two of the Daleks have been destroyed," Evy commented, "One of the Dalek masters must still be alive."

The Doctor stood, anger rolling off him in waves, "Oh, yes. In the whole Universe, just one."

~8~

The Doctor had been back in the sewer, in the lab, trying to reason with the last Dalek, Dalek Caan, for only a few minutes before the familiar, "Emergency Temporal Shift!" echoed through the sewers.

Evy entered the lab just as Dalek Caan disappeared, leaving hanging wires and a very angry Doctor.

"You can't say you didn't expect that," she commented, trying to lighten the mood even if just a bit.

Unfortunately her words had little time to take effect before Martha and Tallulah entered the lab, supporting a fading Lazlo between them.

"Doctor!" Martha shouted, "Doctor! He's sick!" Lazlo started wheezing, breathing more heavily than before as they lowered him to the ground, Tallulah cradling him in her lap, "It's okay. You're alright," the Doctor quickly ran over and knelt next to him, Evy as well, "It's his heart. It's racing like mad. I've never seen anything like it."

"What is it, Doctor?" Tallulah looked up, tears in her eyes, "What's the matter with him? He says he can't breathe? What is it?"

"It's time sweetheart," Lazlo breathed.

"What do you mean 'time?' What are you talking about?"

"None of the slaves…survive for long. Most of them only live a few weeks. I was lucky. I held on 'cos I had you. But now…I'm dyin' Tallulah."

"No you're not. Not now, after all this. Doctor, can't you do somethin'?"

"Oh, Tallulah with three Ls and an H…" he trailed off, before smiling, "Just you watch me!" he jumped to his feet and took off his coat, "What do I need? Oh, I don't know. How about a great big genetic laboratory? Oh look, I've got one. Lazlo, just you hold on," he ran about, muttering to himself as he began mixing up solutions, "There's been too many deaths today. Way too many people have died. Brand new creatures and wise old men and age-old enemies. And I'm tellin' you, I'm tellin' you right now, I am  _not_  having one more death! Got that? Not one! Tallulah, out of the way," he took his stethoscope out of his pocket and put it on, heading towards Lazlo as Evy pulled Tallulah and Martha out of his way, "The Doctor is in!"

~8~

Evy was sitting on a crate in the lab with her feet up higher on another crate while Martha and Tallulah sat next to her, waiting for the Doctor in the tunnel just outside the lab. Standing there, watching, had been too much for Tallulah so they'd taken her out to wait. It had been a few hours since the Doctor first went off to try and help Lazlo and Tallulah was almost at wit's end.

Just as the woman was about to jump up and go ask the Doctor what was going on he appeared, walking towards them, his tie just a bit askew.

"Doctor!" Tallulah called, jumping up with Martha, "How's Lazlo? Is he…"

The Doctor looked at her grimly, making her frown, before it morphed into a bright smile, "He'll be fine!"

"You!" she glared at him for his trick before his words sunk in, "Really? He's ok?"

"Is he still…" Martha trailed off a bit, gesturing to her face, knowing it was probably a touchy subject.

The Doctor really did frown this time, "I'm sorry, I couldn't change him back entirely…"

"So it's my turn then?" Evy asked, kicking her heels up and swiveling on the crates to get up.

"What?" Tallulah asked, turning to face her, "Are you some sort of doctor too?"

Evy smiled, "You could say that," she laughed to herself. If only they knew just how like the Doctor she really was…

"Evy," the Doctor sighed, "I know you want to help but this…"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Doctor, I'm not just good at fixing  _machines_."

And that was all she said as she got up and strutted past him into the lab he'd just come out of. He stared, open mouthed, as she passed, if she could achieve what she was implying…

About two hours later Evy stepped through the door of the lab, holding it open behind her, "Ladies and Doctor," she called, "May I introduce…Lazlo!"

They all stood in amazement as a more human looking Lazlo stepped through the door. Tallulah squealed before launching herself into his arms and kissing him senseless as the trio just looked on, Martha and Evy smiling and the Doctor stunned.

"But…what…how…" he was, apparently, stunned even beyond words, not something that happened very often.

Evy walked over to him, "It was a simple case of basic genetic splicing," she explained as though it were obvious and just as easy to understand, "I just targeted the pig DNA and used some reverse encryption techniques to isolate those cells and neutralize them. Then I rigged a crude genetic accelerator to help speed up the process of regression back to human cells," she looked over at Lazlo, "I couldn't get all of them though," she told them, "So he may squeal from time to time and his nose will be a bit more flat and upturned than it was, but…"

"Thank you!" Tallulah exclaimed, pulling the woman into a bone crushing hug for only a moment before attacking Lazlo again.

"Reverse encryption?" Martha asked, shaking her head in confusion, "Genetic accelerator? What?"

"A better question," the Doctor cut in, still staring at Evy, "Why didn't  _I_  think of that?"

"You were too focused on the problem," she laughed, "It was a simple solution to a simple problem,  _you_  were just looking at it as being more complicated than it was. You were too close, needed a different perspective."

"Simple?" Martha blanched.

The Doctor just shook his head, "I keep forgetting you're from the 51st century. Genetic splicing was still widely accepted then," she would be better versed in that science having come from a time period where it was common.

She just nodded along and laughed at Lazlo and Tallulah, still going at it.

~8~

Tallulah and Lazlo headed back to the city, leaving the Doctor and the girls at the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.

"Do you reckon it's gonna work, those two?" Martha asked as they stared at the New York skyline.

"I think so," Evy smiled, "If Tallulah wanted him as a pig man, she's bound to keep him now."

The Doctor laughed, "New York, that's what this city's good at. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and maybe the odd pig-slave-Dalek-mutant-hybrid-turned-human too."

"The former pig and the showgirl," Martha laughed.

"Oh no," Evy shook her head, "It's definitely the showgirl and the former pig."

"Just proves it, I suppose," Martha smiled, "There's someone for everyone."

"Maybe," the Doctor replied quietly, his own smile disappearing.

"Definitely," Evy corrected lightly.

But the Doctor didn't seem to hear her and walked back to the TARDIS.

Martha sighed, "Meant to say…sorry."

"What for?" the Doctor glanced at her.

"Just 'cos that Dalek got away," she shrugged, "I know what that means to you. Think you'll ever see it again?"

"Oh yes," he replied, unlocking the TARDIS, holding it open for the girls to enter. He looked back at the view, "One Day."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feeling the Doctor's pain is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the dark side of the Link, we'll definitely be finding out more about that during Human Nature along with Evy's reasons for not telling the Doctor she's a Time Lady :)
> 
> I hope Evy figuring out how to turn Lazlo back when the Doctor couldn't is believable. You wouldn't believe how many problems I've come across and been stumped by but then someone else just glances at it and comes up with an answer since they weren't frustrating themselves and looking/thinking of it a different way.
> 
> Have to admit, Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks weren't my favorite episodes of Series 3, so I'm very excited for what's coming in the rest of the Series :)


	6. The Lazarus Experiment (Part 1)

Martha was clutching the console of the TARDIS as the Doctor ran around it, trying to get to all the controls he needed while in flight. Evy was a few feet away, holding onto the console as well, hoping the Doctor would manage to land the TARDIS in one piece which, to be honest, did not seem like a possibility at the moment.

He came around to stand in between the two women, fiddling with some switches before trying to reach over towards a lever. But before he could manage it Evy pulled it down for him and the TARDIS quieted.

He gave her a surprised look for a moment before grinning, she must have seen him reaching, and turning to Martha, "There we go…perfect landing, which isn't easy in such a tight spot."

"You should be used to tight spots by now," Martha laughed, "Where are we?"

"The end of the line," he replied, watching as Martha ran towards the doors. Evy walked over to stand beside him, "No place like it."

Martha just looked back at him curiously, wondering if she should open the doors, if it was safe. He nodded and she went outside only to stop short in disappointment when she saw her bedroom, "Home," she remarked as the Doctor and Evy stepped through the door behind her and looked around, "You took me home?"

"In fact, the morning after we left, so you've only been gone about twelve hours," he commented, looking at her photos, "No time at all, really."

"But all the stuff we've done, Shakespeare, New New York, old New York…"

"In just one night," Evy smiled at her, turning away from a small pile of clothing on the bed, "Relatively speaking of course."

"Everything should be just as it was, books, CDs," he picked up some underwear drying on a rack, "Laundry…" Martha quickly reached out and grabbed the piece of clothing dangling off his fingertips away from him, "So, back were you were, as promised."

"This is it?" she frowned.

"Yeah," he nodded, inhaling deeply, "I should probably…um…"

Just then Martha's phone began ringing, going straight to the machine, "Hi! I'm out! Leave a message!"

"I'm sorry," Martha apologized, a bit embarrassed to be interrupted from their goodbye.

The machine beeped and a woman's voice filled the room, "Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?"

"It's mum," Martha shrugged, "It'll wait."

As though she could hear her, Martha's mother spoke again, "Alright then, pretend that you're out if you like. I was only calling to say that your sister's on TV. On the news of all things. Just thought you might be interested."

Martha quickly turned and picked up the remote to her TV, turning it on to see her sister standing in the background as an old man was speaking to a gathering of people.

"The details are top secret…" the old man was saying.

"How could Tish end up on the news?" Martha asked herself.

"Tonight, I will demonstrate a device…"

"She's got a new job," Martha explained, glancing back at the two others, "PR for some research lab."

"…with the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human!" the man shouted just before Martha shut off the TV and turned to face them.

"Sorry," she frowned, "You were saying we should…"

"Yes, yes, we should," the Doctor started, fidgeting a bit, "One trip is what we said."

"Yeah," Martha sighed, "I suppose things just kind of…escalated."

"Seems to happen to him a lot," Evy remarked.

Martha glanced at her, almost defeated, before trying to smile at the Doctor, "Thank you. For everything."

"It was my pleasure," he smiled as well, stepping back and walking into the TARDIS with Evy following after.

Evy paused in the doorway and turned to look back at the young doctor-in-training, "He'll be back," she said, grinning, "Don't worry."

Before Martha could even comment, Evy had stepped into the TARDIS and shut the door. Moments later the large blue box faded away, leaving one Martha Jones near tears. She had been so hoping that Evy had been correct before and that the Doctor would keep her with him a bit longer. She took a deep breath, accepting the fact that it was over when suddenly the TARDIS rematerialized.

The door popped open and the Doctor stuck his head out, "No, I'm sorry. Did he say he was going to change what it means to be human?"

Martha could hear Evy laughing from inside the TARDIS.

~8~

After making a few calls, Martha found out that she had been invited to Lazarus's experiment that night by her sister. She hoped it wouldn't be too hard to sneak the Doctor and Evy in with her. If worse came to worse, Evy had said as they prepared for the event, the Doctor could always use his psychic paper to help.

She and Evy had even convinced the Doctor to wear a suit, stating that the last thing they needed was to draw attention to him and wearing his average attire would be adverse to that attempt. He'd given up after a few minutes of dual badgering from the women and agreed, heading to the TARDIS's wardrobe to find a suit. Evy had tagged along to try and find a dress. She hadn't brought that many clothes with her as she hadn't that much to begin with and refused Jack's offer to go on an unlimited shopping spree. She knew that man had quite a bit of money he barely used from all the years he'd been alive, but she felt like it was taking advantage.

In the end, Jack had actually thrown her over his shoulder and half dragged her to a few stores with Tosh, Gwen and Ianto of course, who better to help her pick out clothes than the best dressed man in the world as she liked to joke with him, and forced her to buy  _something_. She'd grumbled through the entire adventure and only agreed to buy what she needed and no more. Now though, she was thinking she should have taken him up on the offer to buy a nice dress or two.

But luckily, the TARDIS had a wide variety of dresses from many time periods to choose from so she didn't have a problem picking one out.

She and Martha had ordered the Doctor to stay in the TARDIS while they used Martha's flat to get ready. Evy soon regretted the decision when, after only an hour, there was a mild explosion from within the box signaling that the Doctor had attempted 'fixing' something that probably didn't need to be fixed and ended up causing more damage and work for her later. That was probably the only reason she wasn't being sent back to Jack after he'd dropped off Martha, there was still far too much in the TARDIS that still needed proper fixing for her to try her hand at.

They were just finishing up the last touches on their outfits when Martha sighed, "What's wrong?" Evy asked, hearing her.

"It's just…" she turned to face Evy, "I thought you said he'd keep me. You know, let me travel with him a bit more?"

Evy smiled softly, walking forward to hug her friend, "He will," she pulled back, "When it comes to it and he's ready to head out, I doubt he'll be able to leave you behind."

"You think?" Martha asked hopefully.

"Oh definitely," Evy grinned before walking over to the TARDIS and banging on the door, "Oi! Doctor! You can come out now!"

Moments later the door opened to reveal the Doctor fiddling with his tie. He was in the process of straightening it when he looked up to see Evy standing there and froze mid-action. She was dressed in a beautiful floor length, champagne colored silk dress. It had a sweetheart neckline with thick straps that crisscrossed in the back, growing in thickness. The hem was slightly longer in the back, creating a small train. It fit her like a glove and showed off all her curves in a very modest way. Her hair was down completely and fell in waves around her face which was lightly decorated with makeup, though the Doctor felt like that last touch wasn't needed.

"Wow…" he said, his mouth dropping open as he quickly looked her over. He was floored. He hadn't known her long so he'd never seen her in a dress before. She was stunning.

"Thank you," she blushed lightly, "You don't look so bad yourself," she turned back to link her arms with Martha, "And Martha is just beautiful, don't you think?"

The Doctor almost flinched. For a moment there, he'd completely forgotten Martha was there as he turned to look at her as well. She was dressed in a lovely sleeveless, knee length, purple dress with a V-neckline, her hair straightened, "You look lovely," he complimented, trying not to show how he seemed affected more by Evy than her.

"Well then," Evy nodded, still blushing from the thoughts going through the Doctor's head and how his gaze kept returning to her, "Off we go."

And with that, she tugged Martha out towards the door, followed by a still slightly stunned Doctor. He managed to shake himself out of his stupor by the time they were on the street. Luckily Martha lived fairly close to where the experiment was taking place and they were able to walk there.

"Will you stop that?" Evy asked as the Doctor fussed over the cuffs of his dress shirt for the seventh time in the last two minutes.

"Oh, black tie," he muttered, "Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens."

"It's not the outfit," Martha commented, "That's just you."

"Though it does suit you," Evy had to agree, "In a 'James Bond' sort of way."

"James Bond?" he asked a bit defensively, before thinking on it a moment and smiling, "Really?"

Martha and Evy just laughed as they walked up to the entrance of Lazarus Laboratories.

~8~

Inside the laboratory's main reception room there were dozens of guest mingling with each other. But that wasn't what drew Evy's attention, it was the large, white cabinet surrounded by four pillars in the middle of the room. The Doctor on the other hand was focused on the hors d'oeuvres.

"Oh, look, they've got nibbles!" he commented, reaching out and grabbing a handful, "I love nibbles!"

Martha laughed as her sister approached them, "Hello!"

"Tish!" Martha called, hugging her sister while the Doctor and Evy looked on.

"You look great," Tish remarked, looking at her sister, "So, what do you think? Impressive, isn't it?"

Martha looked around, very impressed, "Very."

"And two nights out in a row for you, that's dangerously close to a social life."

"If I keep this up, I'll end up in all the gossip columns."

"You might, actually," Tish replied seriously, "Keep an eye out for photographers. And mum, she's coming too, even dragging Leo along with her."

"Leo in black tie?" she asked incredulously, "That I must see," Tish smiled and glanced over at the duo standing off to the side next to them, "This is Evy and, uh, the Doctor."

"Hello," the Doctor greeted, moving the nibbles into one hand to shake hers.

"Nice to meet you," Evy added, shaking her hand after the Doctor.

"Are they with you?" Tish frowned, turning to Martha.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"But they're not on the list," she looked down at the clipboard in her hand, reexamining it, "How did they get in?"

"They're my plus…two?" Martha struggled to come up with an excuse.

"So, this Lazarus bloke, he's your boss?" the Doctor cut in, quickly changing the topic to avoid getting thrown out. Luckily Tish didn't seem to notice.

"Professor Lazarus, yes," she nodded, "I'm part of his executive staff."

"She's in the PR department," Martha rolled her eyes.

"I'm  _head_  of the PR department, actually," Tish defended.

Martha's eyes widened in shock, "You're joking!"

"I put this whole thing together."

"So do you know what the professor's going to be doing tonight?" Evy got them back on track.

"That looks like it might be a sonic microfield manipulator," the Doctor commented.

"He's a science geek," Tish remarked as though it should have been obvious, "I should've known."

"They both are," Martha shook her head.

Tish laughed, "Gotta get back to work now. I'll catch up with you later."

She walked off as the Doctor frowned and looked at the girls, "Science geek? What does that mean?"

"That you're both obsessively enthusiastic about the topic," Martha smirked.

"Thanks," Evy rolled her eyes.

"Martha!" an older woman called, walking over to them.

Martha turned around and immediately ran to the woman, hugging her as though she hadn't seen her in years, "Mum!"

"Alright, what's the occasion?" her mother asked, pulling away, startled but pleased with the hug.

"What do you mean?" Martha smiled, "I'm just pleased to see you, that's all."

"You saw me last night."

"I know," Martha shrugged it off, "I just…miss you…" she glanced over at her brother, "You're looking good, Leo."

"Yeah," he remarked, clearly uncomfortable in his formal outfit, "If anyone asks me to fetch 'em a drink, I'll swing for him."

Just then her mother seemed to notice the Doctor and Evy standing awkwardly behind Martha, "You disappeared last night," she gave Martha a look.

"I...just went home," Martha looked away a bit.

"On your own?"

"These are some friends of mine," she introduced, pulling Evy and the Doctor forward, "This is Evy and the Doctor."

"Doctor what?" her mother raised an eyebrow.

"No, it's just the Doctor. We've all been doing some work together."

"Yeah, alright," the Doctor reached out to shake Leo and Mrs. Jones' hands.

"Lovely to meet you, Mrs. Jones," Evy replied, smiling as she shook their hands too.

"We've heard a lot about you."

"Have you?" Mrs. Jones asked suspiciously, "What have you heard, then?"

"Oh, you know, that you're Martha's mother and…um…" he trailed off, "No, actually, that's…that's about it. We haven't had much time to chat, you know, been busy."

"Busy?" she glared at the Doctor, looking between him and Martha, "Doing  _what_ , exactly?"

The implication was not lost on any of them, "Oh…you know…stuff…" and the Doctor was not really helping his case.

Martha looked to her side when she heard a sound vaguely like stifled laughter to see that Evy was, in fact, trying to cover up her giggles, "You're loving this, aren't you?" Martha laughed a bit at her friend.

"There's not many people who can make him squirm like that," was all Evy could say.

Martha frowned at that, at how she could know that, but before she could speak tapping on a glass drew everyone's attention to the center of the room and the white cabinet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I'm going to perform a miracle," the old man from the TV announced, "It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you'll awake to a world which will be changed forever."

He turned and entered the cabinet, shutting the door while two female technicians began to start the machinery stationed off to the side. There was a high-pitched whir and a bright blue light began to emit from the pillars as they spun around the cabinet. Everyone but the Doctor and Evy looked away, shielding their eyes from the light created by the energy field. They began to move faster and faster around the cabinet when suddenly a warning noise went off.

"Something's wrong," Evy shouted, "It's overloading!"

The technicians tried to stop it, to turn it off, but a few panels exploded, sending sparks flying. The Doctor ran forward, jumping over the desk and aiming the screwdriver at the controls while Evy ran to the nearest computer and began manually trying to input an override command to shut it down.

"Somebody stop them!" Lazarus's partner ordered, "Get them away from those controls!"

"If this thing goes off, it'll take the whole building with it!" the Doctor replied, "Is that what you want?"

Evy gave up trying to put in a new command as the screen went black. Instead she turned to her side and pulled out one of the main wires connected to the cabinet. Slowly it stopped spinning and the energy field retreated. Martha ran to the door while the Doctor jumped over the table, grabbing Evy's hand and pulling her with him to join Martha.

"Get it open!" he shouted as Martha pulled the door away to reveal a younger Lazarus emerging from the smoke. Photographers began snapping away while Martha looked on in amazement, the Doctor and Evy taking a few steps back, instinctively knowing something was wrong with the man. Lazarus touched his face, his eyes widening as he realized it worked.

Lazarus took a few steps out of the cabinet and stood before the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am 76 years old and I am reborn!" he held out his hands in triumph as everyone around him began to clap.

~8~

The Doctor, Martha, and Evy stood off to the side, watching as people lined up to take pictures with Lazarus, the Doctor examining the cabinet.

"It can't be the same guy," Martha commented, "It's impossible. It must be a trick."

"Oh, it's not a trick," the Doctor told her, flashing the sonic around a bit, getting a reading, "I wish it were."

"What just happened, then?" she turned to look at him, Evy still focused on the new young man.

"He just changed what it means to be human," the Doctor sighed.

"He's made himself into a monster," Evy remarked quietly, but they heard her nonetheless.

"What do you mean?" Martha asked.

Evy turned around to face them, "Think about it. The system overloaded, it ceased to work properly. He's changed his DNA, it's the only way to do something like this, and if his DNA was human to begin with and something went wrong…" she looked back at the young man now scarfing down as much food as he could off a plate, "What is it now?"

The Doctor frowned as he thought about it, "Let's find out," he walked over to the young man, Evy and Martha following behind, coming to stand on either side of him, "Energy deficit," he commented, nodding towards the food on the tray, "Always happens with this kind of process."

"You speak as if you see this every day, Mr.…" Lazarus trailed.

"Doctor. And, well, no, not every day, but I have some experience in this kind of transformation."

"That's not possible," he shook his head.

"Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance," the Doctor replied proving he clearly had a knowledge of such things, Evy smirked, she always loved it when he proved people wrong, "That's…that's inspired."

"You understand the theory, then," Lazarus was shocked.

"Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables," he said seriously.

"No experiment is entirely without risk," Lazarus shrugged off his concern.

"That thing nearly exploded," Evy stepped up, glaring, "You might as well have stepped into a blender. You could have killed everyone here."

"You're not qualified to comment," his partner, an old woman, remarked.

"If  _we_  hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded," the Doctor glared at the woman, a flash of protectiveness rising in him. He didn't like how she had sneered at Evy. How dare she claim Evy wasn't qualified? She'd known enough to see something had gone wrong and help him shut it down.

"Then I thank you, Miss, Doctor," he nodded to each of them, "But that's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less."

"You've no way of knowing that until you've run proper tests," Martha argued.

Lazarus just laughed, "Look at me! You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need."

"This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially," his partner tried to assure them.

"Commercially?" Martha's eyes widened, "You are joking. That'll cause chaos."

"Not chaos," he smiled, "Change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve."

"This isn't about improving," the Doctor frowned, "It's about you and your customers living a little longer."

"Not a little longer, Doctor," Lazarus shook his head, "A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely."

"And how could you expect humans to 'evolve,' as you say, if they just keep resetting themselves to how they were?" Evy countered, "That's only going to lead to de-evolution."

"Richard, we have things to discuss," his partner said suddenly, glaring at Evy, "Upstairs."

She turned and walked away as Lazarus moved to follow her, pausing to turn and speak to the trio once more, "Goodbye, Miss, Doctor. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were," he reached out and took Martha's hand, kissing the back of it before leaving.

"He is so far out of his depth," Evy shook her head sadly, "He has no idea of the damage he might have done."

"So what do we do now?" Martha turned back to them.

"Now…well, this building must be full of laboratories," the Doctor remarked, "I say we do our own tests."

Martha looked down at her hand and smiled, "Lucky I've just collected a DNA sample then, isn't it?" she lifted her hand as Evy laughed.

"Oh, Martha Jones, you're a star," the Doctor smiled before leading them off.

~8~

The trio was sitting in a lab, looking at the results of Lazarus's DNA on the computer screen.

"Amazing…" Evy breathed, not sure if she was impressed or horrified.

"What?" Martha glanced at her.

"Lazarus's DNA," the Doctor answered.

"I can't see anything different," Martha frowned, looking at the screen.

"Look at it!" the Doctor pointed just as the screen flickered and changes appeared on the DNA.

"Oh, my God!" Martha's eyes widened, "Did that just change? But it can't have!"

"But it did," Evy confirmed.

"It's impossible!"

"And that's two impossible things we've seen tonight," the Doctor grinned, "Don't you love it when that happens?"

"That means Lazarus has changed his own molecular patterns," Martha gasped.

"Hypersonic sound waves to destabilize the cell structure then a mutagenic program to manipulate the coding in the protein strands," the Doctor explained, but Martha didn't seem to be following.

"Basically, he hacked into his own genes and instructed them to rejuvenate," Evy simplified for her.

"But they're still mutating now," she shook her head.

"'Cos he missed something," the Doctor added.

"Something in his DNA has been activated and won't let him stabilize," Evy confirmed, "Something that's trying to change him."

"Change him into what?" Martha frowned.

"I dunno but I think we need to find out," the Doctor replied.

"That woman said they were going upstairs."

"Let's go!" Evy shouted, getting off her chair and heading for the door, the other two following.

~8~

They stepped off the lift and into Lazarus's office, the Doctor turning on the lights.

"This is his office, alright," Evy stated, looking around.

"So, where is he?" the Doctor frowned.

"Dunno," Martha shrugged, "Let's try back at the re…ception…" she trailed, spotting something on the ground. She rushed towards it, the other two as well when they saw skeletal bones lying behind a desk, wearing high heels.

Evy nearly gagged when she saw the dried out remains of Lazarus's partner. After experiencing quite a few of the Doctor's adventures in her own mind, seeing what he saw when his emotions were high...she could handle nearly anything...except skeletons, of any species. For some reason, they just freaked her out, and this woman looked far too much like one for her not to be disturbed.

"Is that Lady Thaw?" Martha gasped, staring at the body.

"Used to be," the Doctor replied grimly, "Now it's just a shell. Had all the life energy drained out. Like squeezing the juice out of an orange."

"Lazarus," Martha breathed.

"Could be," Evy frowned.

"So he's changed already?" Martha asked, getting worried.

"Not necessarily," Evy reassured her, "You saw the DNA. It was fluctuating."

The Doctor nodded, "The process must demand energy. This might not have been enough."

"So he might do this again?" Martha's eyes widened in horror.

The Doctor could only nod before they ran back to the lifts, they needed to warn people and get them out.

~8~

They got back to the reception area and quickly began looking around for Lazarus, but so far were having no luck.

"I can't see him," Martha called as they scouted around.

"He can't be far," the Doctor replied, "Keep looking."

He wandered off in one direction, leaving the girls to themselves as they continued to look. Evy was not about to leave Martha, knowing how worried the woman was that her family was at the party while Lazarus was roaming.

"Hey, you alright, Marth?" Leo asked, seeing Martha looking around, flustered, "I think mum wants to talk to you."

"Have you see Lazarus anywhere?" she asked desperately.

"Yeah," he nodded, "He was getting cozy with Tish a couple of minutes ago."

"With Tish?" Martha exclaimed as the Doctor joined them.

"Ah, Doctor," Mrs. Jones moved towards them.

"Where did they go?" he asked Leo, ignoring Mrs. Jones trying to get his attention.

"Upstairs I think, why?" Leo frowned.

"Doctor…" Mrs. Jones began but the Doctor ignored her, rushing past her, bumping into the woman's arm, spilling her drink, "I'm speaking to you!" she shouted after them.

"Not now, mum!" Martha called back, following her friends.

They ran back to the lift and quickly made their way up to Lazarus's office once more.

"Where are they?" Martha asked, spinning around but seeing no sign of her sister.

Evy turned and reached into the Doctor's pocket, pulling out the sonic screwdriver and fiddling with it, "Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature," she muttered to herself, far too concerned for Tish to worry about whether or not the Doctor would find it odd that she knew the sonic would be able to track such an energy signature, "We might be able to pick it up…"

Before she could finish setting the screwdriver the Doctor reached out and snatched it back, "Brilliant!" he shouted, setting it and holding it up. He moved it around the room, picking up the different signature in the room, "Got him."

"Where?" Martha looked around again. The Doctor moved the screwdriver up, pointing it at the ceiling, where the signature was strongest, "But this is the top floor!"

"The roof!" Evy called as they ran towards the stairs and up them, crashing out onto the roof to find Lazarus and Tish standing far too close to each other.

"…always something to surprise you," Lazarus was saying, "'Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act…'"

"'Falls the shadow,'" the Doctor finished as did Evy.

Lazarus turned to see the trio standing there, "So the beautiful stranger and mysterious Doctor know their Eliot. I'm impressed."

"Martha, what are you doing here?" Tish demanded.

"Tish, get away from him," Martha warned.

"What?" Tish glared at her, "Don't tell me what to do."

"I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry Lazarus, what with you being busy defying the laws of nature and all," the Doctor commented, trying to distract Lazarus till Martha could get her sister away from him.

"You're right, Doctor," he sighed, "One lifetime's been too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more would I get done in two or three or four?"

"It doesn't work like that," Evy frowned, "Some people can live more in 20 years than others do in 80. It's not the _time_  that mattes, it's the  _person_."

"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be," Lazarus remarked.

"Or what a curse," the Doctor argued.

"Look at what you've  _done_ to yourself," Evy shook her head at him, pity in her voice.

"Who are you to judge me?" he glared at them.

"Over here, Tish," Martha motioned for her sister to walk over, which, thankfully, she did.

"You have to spoil everything, don't you?" Tish grumbled, "Every time I find someone nice, you have to go and find fault."

"Tish, he's a monster!" Martha shouted as Lazarus began to collapse to the ground, convulsing.

"I know the age thing's a bit freaky, but it works for Catherine Zeta-Jones," Tish shrugged it off. But suddenly the sound of growling reached her and Tish slowly turned around to see Lazarus had indeed turned into a monster. He now resembled a cross between a scorpion and a skeleton.

"RUN!" the Doctor shouted as the monster reared up, ready to attack.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's definitely going to take the Doctor a while to figure out Evy's not human. I feel like in Series 3 he didn't really notice Martha (or her feelings for him) much as he was still pained from losing Rose. So I feel like that would carry over here, to him Evy's another Companion, a human one. Not to mention, he truly believes ALL his people are gone so he wouldn't suspect that she'd be a Time Lady in hiding, he wouldn't be looking for signs of that, to him she's just a brilliant human from the 51st century like Jack. She's also going to try and tone down her knowledge, really just simplifying what he says so humans can understand it, like here with Martha. If he's not looking for another one of his people, and the Perception Filter is still working to make Evy less noticable, he won't be figuring it out. 
> 
> I can say that Evy won't be toned down and more human during Family of Blood, in a way, she can't be, she's connected to his mind but it is still her own mind...if that made any sense at all. It's all a bit complicated as Martha will need Time Lady brains for help in dealing with the Family, but she can't exactly act like a highly intelligent alien around John Smith or the Family when they arrive. She's been on Earth a few years before getting trapped in the institute so she can pull off Human pretty well, it's just being with the Doctor, or even Jack, makes her slip up a bit more as they CAN understand her when she speaks about time or science.
> 
> As for the Perception Filter for those the Family episodes...let's just say, Evy's got her work cut out for her because the Filter is really meant to keep aliens from noticing her, but John Smith is technically not an alien, and the Time Lord consciousness doesn't have a mind to fool...interesting times ahead for sure.
> 
> Next chapter we get a hint to what Evy's secret ability is :)


	7. The Lazarus Experiment (Part 2)

Martha, Tish, Evy, and the Doctor raced inside moments before the monster that was Lazarus could catch them, the Doctor turning to seal the lock of the door with the sonic while Martha pushed the button for the lift.

"Are you ok?" she turned to her sister.

"I was gonna snog him…" Tish trailed in horror.

Evy would have laughed had Lazarus not proceeded to bang on the doors triggering an automatic security response in the building. Sirens began to blare with a computerized warning echoing over the loudspeakers, "Security breach. Security breach. Security beach."

"What's happening?" Martha looked around, concerned, as the lights went out.

"Uh, an intrusion," Tish explained, "It triggers a security lockdown. Kills most of the power. Stops the lifts. Seals the exits."

"He must be breaking through that door," the Doctor reasoned.

"The stairs!" Evy shouted, running towards them, "Come on!" just as they got down the first flight they heard the door crash open above them, "He's inside!"

"Haven't got much time!" the Doctor called out as they continued to run. They didn't stop until they reached the reception again, "Tish," he turned to her, "Is there another way out of here?"

"There's an exit in the corner," she replied, shaken, pointing to the corner in question, "But it'll be locked now."

The Doctor tossed the sonic screwdriver to Martha, "Martha, setting 54. Hurry."

She rushed off, followed by Tish, as the Doctor jumped onto the platform in front of Lazarus's machine, Evy jumping up to stand next to him.

"Listen to me!" he shouted, "You people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!"

"Don't be ridiculous," a snooty woman in an evening gown remarked, "The biggest danger here is choking on an olive."

In that moment glass shattered on the second floor and Lazarus appeared, leaping down onto the reception floor.

"Oh yes," Evy rolled her eyes, "He looks  _so_  much like an olive doesn't he?"

She was scared, not quite so frightened as she'd been when facing the Daleks, but still enough to try and hide it with remarks like that. Lazarus looked far too much like a skeleton for her to be calm about the situation. Not to mention he was completely crazed and trying to kill them. What on Earth he'd been thinking by trying to experiment on himself...her gaze flickered over her shoulder at his machine, a thought striking her but then the screaming of the guests pulled her out of her thoughts.

Martha and Tish ran to the door, trying to open it as everyone began to panic and run for the exits. Evy jumped off the machine and went to help some people who had fallen down from the shock of Lazarus's appearance.

"Mum!" Evy heard Leo calling, "Get back!"

She looked up just as Lazarus pushed a table out of the way and sent it flying towards Leo, knocking him out.

"Leo!" Mrs. Jones called, rushing to her son's side.

"Over here!" Martha shouted as she got the door open, "This way! Everyone downstairs now! Hurry!"

Evy pulled a few people to their feet, pushing them towards the door as she ran to help some others.

Lazarus closed in on the snooty woman, who was just standing there, staring at the monster in shock.

"No!" the Doctor shouted as Lazarus attacked her, "Get away from her!"

It was too late, the woman fell to the floor, drained of life.

Lazarus wasted no time before making his way towards Mrs. Jones and the now barely conscious Leo, "Lazarus!" the Doctor tried again, "Leave them alone!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a table flew across the room and nailed Lazarus in the back. He spun around, roaring in fury, trying to see who had thrown the table, but the room was in such chaos that he couldn't see anyone. While his back was turned Martha ran to her brother's side, helping him up.

"Martha," her mother breathed, but Martha ignored her, focusing on her brother's injury.

"C'mon, stay with me," Martha whispered to Leo, pulling him and her mother away before Lazarus could turn around and attack again.

"What's the point if you can't control it?" the Doctor shouted, drawing the monster's attention away, "The mutation's too strong. Killing those people won't help you. You're a fool, a vain old man who thought he could defy nature. Only nature got her own back, didn't she? You're a joke, Lazarus! A footnote in the history of failure!"

He ran away suddenly, an enraged Lazarus following after him.

Evy determined then and there, she was going to kill him for his idea of baiting the monster…or she would if her head wasn't throbbing.

~8~

Martha reached up, studying her brother's head as she examined him just outside the reception room, "What's the Doctor doing?" Tish asked.

"He's trying to buy us some time," she told them, "Let's not waste it. Leo, look at me. Let me see your eyes," she turned to her mother in concern, "He's got concussion. You'll need to help him downstairs," she went over to an ice bucket, putting some cubes in a napkin. She turned, about to press it to her brother's head herself, when she caught sight of something in the reception area. She quickly passed the napkin to her mother, "This'll keep the swelling down. Go! I'll be right behind you! Tish, move! We need to get out of here!"

She pushed her family away towards the stairs and turned back. She ran into the reception area and over to the machine where Evy was knelt beside it, leaning forwards so she was half in it. She moved to the side to see Evy had a panel on the floor open and was pulling wires out.

She was about to ask Evy what she was doing when she noticed something more troubling, "You're bleeding," Martha gasped.

"It's just a bloody nose," Evy replied, wiping the small trail of blood under her nose on the back of her wrist and getting back to work, "It's nothing."

"You could have a concussion or something," Martha insisted, "Let me examine…"

"No!" Evy shouted, turning to Martha, she quickly reached out and took the sonic screwdriver from her. She fiddled with it a bit, "Setting 50 restores power," she told her, handing it back, "It should help get the power back and the doors open," she looked at Martha who stood there, unmoving, "Go!"

She gave her a nudge, pushing her towards the door. Martha hesitated a moment before running out of the room, there was a huge crowd of people that would die if she didn't get them out. She could come back to help Evy as soon as she succeeded.

So she ran down the hall, coming up to the mass of partygoers still trying to get out the locked main entrance.

"We can't get out!" Tish shouted, seeing Martha approaching, "We're trapped!"

"There must be an override switch," she stated, looking around, "Where's the security desk? Tish!"

Tish pointed to a booth a few feet away, "Right there."

Martha ran towards the desk and slid over the top, making her way to the control panel and using the preset sonic on it. Moments later the power was back on and the doors opened.

~8~

"I've got to go back," Martha said, once she was sure everyone had gotten out and her family was alright.

"You can't!" her mother shouted, "You saw what that thing did. It'll kill you."

"I don't care. I have to go."

"It's that Doctor, isn't it?" her mother glared, "That's what's happened to you. That's why you've changed."

"He was buying us time, Martha," Tish reminded her, "Time for you to get out, too."

"It's not just him mum," she shook her head, "Evy's still in there. I'm not leaving them."

"Martha!" her mother called, but Martha just ran back up the stairs and into the building.

~8~

In the main reception area, knelt next to the machine, Evy frowned in frustration as she worked on the wires. This would be  _so_  much easier if she had a sonic screwdriver to help her. But to do this manually…it was  _near_  impossible, but she could do it, she knew she could. It would also be easier if she didn't have a massive headache. It would be even easier if she wasn't keeping tabs on the Doctor and hearing his plans as he ran about with Lazarus on his tail.

She stiffened suddenly, her eyes widening as the Doctor reached the labs.

"If he gets himself blown up," she muttered to herself, "I'll kill him."

~8~

Martha was running through the halls, trying to get back to the reception area when she heard a blast coming from around the corner where she knew the labs were. She raced down it and crashed into the Doctor as she reached the corner.

"What are you doing here?" the Doctor demanded when he saw who he'd run into.

"I'm returning this," she held out the screwdriver for him, "I thought you might need it."

"How did you…" he trailed, confused, as he stared at the setting. He'd only told her about setting 54, she wouldn't have had time to go through all the settings to 50 to get the power back on.

"Evy set it for me," she explained quickly, "I was heading back to get her…"

"She's still in here?" his eyes widened, completely disregarding what Martha had been saying about the sonic in his concern for the girl.

Martha nodded, "She was doing something to the machine and told me to get everyone out. I was about to go get her when I heard the explosion. That was you then?"

"I blasted Lazarus," he nodded.

"Did you kill him?" she asked hopefully.

Then Lazarus came crashing down the hall.

"More sort of annoyed him, I'd say," he replied before pulling her down the hall, "Let's get Evy and get out of here!"

~8~

They ran back into the reception room, Martha immediately spotting Evy, "Evy!" she called, running over to her. She pulled her away from the machine, checking her eyes to make sure she didn't have a concussion or some other sort of injury.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor asked, walking over to them as Martha's examination turned into a hug of relief. Evy was fine.

"She was bleeding before," Martha informed him, pulling away.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor turned to give Evy the onceover as well.

"I'm fine," she assured them, "It was just a bloody nose."

The Doctor frowned as he squinted, he could just barely make out a darkening of the skin under her nose where she'd wiped the blood away.

"What do we do now?" Martha asked, looking around, "We've just gone round in a circle!"

Lazarus burst into the room as Evy pulled them towards the machine, "We can't lead him outside. Come on, get in," she pushed them into the device and barely managed to close the door behind her they were so crunched together.

"Are we hiding?" Martha asked, a bit out of breath as she was sure someone's elbow was pressed into her lungs.

"No, he knows we're here," the Doctor commented, "But this is his masterpiece. I'm betting he won't destroy it, not even to get at us."

"But we're trapped!"

"Well, yeah, that's a slight problem…"

"You mean you don't have a plan?" Martha's eyes widened.

The Doctor looked sheepish but Evy smiled, "But I do."

"You do?" she asked, breathing a bit easier, at least  _someone_  had a plan.

"I'm very good at backup plans," Evy gave a breathy laugh, "When Lazarus changed his DNA the energy field in this thing reactivated dormant genes, they're becoming dominant.

"He's human?" Martha's shock was apparent.

"It's a throwback," the Doctor confirmed.

"Some option that evolution rejected millions of years ago, but the potential was still locked in the genes," Evy explained, "Until Lazarus unlocked it by mistake."

"So what's the plan?" Martha shook her head.

"Wait for it," she smiled.

Moments later the machine started up.

"He's switched the machine on!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"That's not good, is it?" Martha looked between the two of them, "Is that part of the plan?"

Evy just nodded. Martha shut her eyes tight as the energy field charged up and glowed brighter than it had during Lazarus's experiment.

But, suddenly, it changed, moving out from the capsule, leaving them safe.

They listened for a moment, but, hearing nothing from Lazarus, they stepped out of the machine to see him lying on the floor, still young, but human again.

"What did you do?" the Doctor asked, staring at the prone form of the professor.

"I rigged the capsule to reflect energy rather than receive it," Evy explained, staring sadly at the body as well.

"Did it kill him?" Martha asked.

The Doctor shook his head, "When he transformed, he was three times his size, cellular triplication, he spread himself thin," he turned to Evy, "It took you all this time to reverse the polarity?"

She rolled her eyes, "Well, it's not like I had a sonic device to help!"

"You did it all  _manually_?" his eyes widened in shock, but he was clearly impressed as well, "But that's impossible!"

"He seems so…" Martha's voice drifted over to them, cutting off what Evy was about to say. They looked up to see her crouching next to the body, "Human…again. It's kind of pitiful."

"Eliot saw that, too," the Doctor commented.

"'This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper,'" Evy quoted.

~8~

Medical services came and took the body of the professor, carrying it out in a body bag on a gurney, Martha, the Doctor, and Evy watching from the steps outside the labs.

"She's here!" someone called. They looked up to see Tish running over to Martha and hugging her, "Oh, she's alright."

"Ah, Mrs. Jones, we still haven't finished out chat," the Doctor smiled as Martha's mother stormed over to him. His smile didn't last long as she slapped him in the face.

"Keep away from my daughter!" she demanded.

"Mum, what are you doing?" Martha asked in shock.

Evy placed a hand on the Doctor's cheek where a red print was already forming. Unconsciously he leaned into the touch, her hand was cool and felt nice against his stinging skin.

"Do all their mothers do this to you?" she asked him, a bit of a laugh in her voice.

"Every time," he replied.

"He is dangerous!" Mrs. Jones shouted, "I've been told things."

"What are you talking about?" Martha frowned as her mother grabbed her shoulders.

"Look around you! Nothing but death and destruction!"

"This isn't his fault," Martha defended, "He saved us, all of us!"

"It was Tish who invited everyone to this thing in the first place," Leo added, "I'd say, technically, it's her fault."

Tish elbowed him in the side just as there was a crash down the street. The Doctor and Evy took off running. Martha tried to follow but her mother grabbed her.

"Leave them!" she told her daughter. But Martha just shook her head and pulled away, running after them.

"Martha?" Tish called.

~8~

They were standing at the ambulance, stopped outside a church when Tish ran up to them. The doors were open and they could see the medics were dried up husks like all of Lazarus's other victims.

"Lazarus, back from the dead," the Doctor shook his head, "Should've known, really," he took out the sonic and began searching for the fluctuating DNA once more.

"Where's he gone?" Martha looked around.

"That way," the Doctor said, getting a direction, "The church."

"Cathedral," Tish corrected as they all looked at her. She shrugged, "It's Southwark Cathedral. He told me."

They walked inside, moving slowly up the aisle, the Doctor with the sonic held out in front of him.

"Do you think he's in here?" Martha asked quietly.

"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" Evy countered.

As they drew nearer to the front of the cathedral they saw someone huddled under a red blanket behind the altar, Lazarus.

"I came here before," he said, sensing them standing there, "A lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was  _sure_  of it. I sat there, just a child…the sound of planes and bombs outside."

"The Blitz," Evy breathed, guessing what he was talking about.

"You've read about it," he nodded.

The Doctor shook his head, walking to stand before him, "I was there."

"You're too young," he scoffed.

"So are you," the Doctor shrugged.

Lazarus laughed but it quickly turned into gasps of pain. They could see he was fighting the mutation, "In the morning, the fires had died, and I was still alive. I swore I'd never face death like that again," Evy walked around him, coming to stand near the Doctor, watching him carefully as he glanced up at the bell tower, "So defenseless," he continued, "I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."

"That's what you were trying to do today," the Doctor realized, turning his attention back to the man.

"That's what I  _did_  today," he corrected.

"What about the other people who died?" Evy frowned.

"They were nothing," he spat, "I changed the course of history."

"Any of them might have done too," the Doctor argued, "You think history's only made with equations? Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that."

"No, Doctor," Lazarus glared, " _Avoiding_  death. That's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fiber of being. I'm doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more…successful," he groaned in pain, his body trying to change.

"Look at yourself!" Evy shook her head, "You're mutating! You have  _no_  control over it! You call  _that_  a  _success_?"

"I call it progress. I'm more now than I was. More than just an ordinary human."

"There's no such thing as an ordinary human," the Doctor said passionately.

"He's gonna change again at any minute," Martha whispered, coming up to them.

"I know," the Doctor whispered back, "If I can get him up into the bell tower somehow, I've an idea that might work."

"Up there?" Martha looked up, he nodded.

"You're so sentimental, Doctor," Lazarus continued, "Maybe you are older than you look."

"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one," he informed the man, "In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle. Tired of losing everyone that matters to you. Tired of watching everything turn to dust," he squatted beside Lazarus, his back to Evy who was wearing a sympathetic, understanding look, "If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you end up alone."

"That's a price worth paying."

"Is it?" Evy countered.

"I will feed soon," he told them, feeling the change taking over.

"I'm not gonna let that happen," the Doctor warned him.

"You've not been able to stop me so far," he smirked.

Evy stepped forward about to take a leaf out of the Doctor's book and bait the man again, say something to get Lazarus to follow her up the tower, when Martha beat her to it.

"Leave him, Lazarus! He's old and bitter. Thought you had a taste for fresher meat."

"Martha no!" Evy shouted, but Lazarus stood up and began to chase her and Tish towards the stairs. She lunged forward to go after them, but the Doctor held her back.

"I'm going to need your help down here," he told her before taking her hand and pulling her towards the center of the cathedral.

"Doctor!" they heard Martha shout from a small ways away, "The tower!"

"Where are they?" Evy looked up at the floors above them, "Martha!"

Martha appeared in one of the archways, "Evy! Doctor!"

"Take him to the top, the very top of the bell tower, d'you hear me?" he shouted up to her.

"Up to the top!" she repeated, "Then what?"

Suddenly she disappeared, pulled back into the archway and the duo could just barely make out her running before she disappeared again.

The Doctor looked around, spotting a large pipe organ. He began running, still pulling Evy along as he had yet to let go of her hand. They ran up to it, sitting on the bench. He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and began fiddling with the settings.

"Hypersonic sound waves," he muttered to himself, "Inspired."

He handed it to Evy who jammed it into a slot in the organ and began pulling out all the stops she could reach as he did the same.

There was a commotion at the top of the tower followed by the sound of someone screaming.

"I hope there're good acoustic in here," Evy commented as the Doctor began playing the organ. Nothing seemed to be happening even as he played more frantically.

"We need to turn this up to 11," Evy muttered, pulling the screwdriver out and resetting the volume of the organ. She stuck it back in and the Doctor began to play, much,  _much_  louder than before.

The sound waves from the organ were slowly becoming visible to the naked eye as the noise resonated straight up the bell tower. Moments later there was a loud crash and the Doctor jumped back from the organ. He and Evy leaned over to see Lazarus, in his human form, lying on the ground.

"Martha?" Evy shouted, praying to the stars that her friend was alright.

"Martha!" the Doctor shouted when there was no reply.

"I'm okay!" Martha called back, "We're both okay!"

Evy let out a breath of relief, leaning her head against the Doctor's shoulder and laughing just a bit. The Doctor turned and put an arm around her shoulders, half hugging her as he too laughed at the fact that it had worked. Both knew he'd only been vaguely sure that it might possibly work.

"Come on," he said after a moment, getting up and holding a hand out for her to take. She picked up the sonic before taking his hand and following him down to the base of the bell tower. She stood back as he knelt by Lazarus's side, closing his eyes as the body began to age back, signifying he was truly dead this time.

Evy frowned as the Doctor's thoughts started to drift to his own tiredness and escapes from death. She stepped forward, reaching out a hand to brush her fingers through his hair before falling to his shoulder, comforting him. He took a breath, before standing up, taking Evy's hand and walking back to the stairs, waiting for Martha.

Once they saw her heading down, Evy let go of his hand and rushed to hug her friend, followed closely by the Doctor. Soon they found themselves in a three way group hug.

"Don't scare me like that again Martha," Evy said, pulling away, "Next time one of us has to be the bait, how about we let the girl  _not_  wearing high heels to do the running yeah?" she stuck out her foot to reveal flats.

Martha laughed, "Yeah, but I've got the shorter dress…no tripping over my hem."

Evy grinned, "Touché."

"I didn't know you could play?" Martha turned to the Doctor.

"You call  _that_  playing?" Evy frowned playfully.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Well, you know, if you hang around with Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up."

"Hmm, especially about playing loud," Martha joined in the ribbing of the Doctor's skills.

"Sorry?" he asked, leaning forward like he didn't hear her.

The girls just laughed at him.

~8~

Back in Martha's flat, the Doctor and Evy were standing in front of the TARDIS, Martha in front of them.

"Something else that just kind of escalated then," the Doctor commented.

"I can see a pattern developing," Martha laughed, "You should take more care in the future. And the past, and whatever other time period you find yourself in."

"It's good fun, though, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she agreed as Evy nodded.

"So…what d'you say, one more trip?"

Evy fought a smile from appearing on her face.

"No," Martha said after a moment, "Sorry."

He frowned, "What do you mean? I thought you liked it."

"I do," she said quickly, "But I can't go on like this. 'One more trip.' It's not fair."

"What're you talking about?" he tilted his head in confusion.

"She doesn't want to be  _just_  a  _passenger_  anymore," Evy clarified.

Martha nodded, "I don't want to be someone you take along just for a treat. If that's how you still see me, well, I'd rather stay here."

"Okay, then," he agreed, "If that's what you want."

"Right," she scoffed a bit, "But we've already said goodbye once today so it's really best if you just go," she turned and walked away from the TARDIS, keeping her back to it. But when nothing else was said and she didn't hear the familiar sound of the TARDIS disappearing, she turned around. Evy was grinning broadly while the Doctor was just standing there, "What is it?"

"What?" he shrugged, "I said okay."

"Sorry?" she frowned.

"Okay," he repeated, nodding towards the TARDIS.

Martha's eyes widened, "Oh, thank you! Thank you!" she ran to him and hugged him, laughing.

"Well, you were never really  _just_  a passenger, were you?" he replied.

Martha turned to Evy and hugged her as well, "I told you so," Evy smiled.

"Yeah you did," she agreed, "You were right."

"Were you lot taking bets about this or something?" the Doctor frowned teasingly.

"Or something," Evy replied, pulling away from the hug but looping her arm through Martha's.

The Doctor just laughed, holding the door open for the two women to step through. And soon, off they went to their next adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone want to guess what her ability is? :)


	8. 42 (Part 1)

The TARDIS was flying through the Vortex at top speed, the Doctor, Evy, and Martha standing around inside as the Doctor used the sonic on Martha's phone.

"There we go!" he smiled, "Universal Roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again."

He tossed the phone back to her. She caught it one handed and flipped it open to see 'Universal Roaming Activated' on the screen, "No way!" she shouted, "But it's...too mad! You're telling me I can call anyone, anywhere in space and time on my mobile?"

"Long as you know the area code," he replied, she looked stunned, "Frequent Flyer's privilege," he turned to Evy, "Your turn," he held out his hand to catch her phone but she didn't move from her spot, leaning against the console.

"I don't have one," she replied.

"Really?" he frowned, tilting his head to the side.

She shrugged, "Didn't have much need for one," she cleared her throat, she  _hadn't_  had much need for one during that last year, being locked away in the Mason Institute. She shook her head, not wanting them to ask why she hadn't had a mobile and turned to look at Martha, "Oh, go on. Try it!"

Martha's grin widened as she began to dial, but she was thrown to the floor with Evy and the Doctor as the TARDIS jolted. The monitors began flashing red.

"Distress signal!" the Doctor shouted, pressing some buttons, "Locking on!" he lifted his foot to try and hit another switch when Evy slammed it down for him, he nodded his thanks to her, "Might be a bit of..." he tried to warn, when another jolt sent them flying again.

Suddenly it was still.

"Turbulence?" Evy asked, guessing what he'd been trying to say.

He looked at her sheepishly, "Sorry!" before he ran towards the door, Evy pushing herself up to go help Martha stand, both girls looking none too pleased, "Come on you two!" he waved them over, "Let's take a look!"

Martha grabbed Evy's hand and ran over to the Doctor, walking out and nearly stumbling back at the blast of heat outside the doors. They had landed in what appeared to be a venting room of some sort, glowing red from the extreme heat.

"Whoa!" the Doctor called, "Now  _that_  is  _hot_!"

"It's like a sauna in here!" Martha commented, taking off her jacket and tossing it back into the TARDIS. She looked at Evy, who shook her head, not even seeming uncomfortable with the heat despite her jumper, before shrugging and shutting the doors to the box.

"Venting systems," Evy muttered as she looked around, examining the room.

"Working at full pelt trying to cool down," the Doctor nodded, "Wherever it is we are," he noticed a heavy duty door off to the side, "Well! If you can't stand the heat…" he walked over, holding it open for them to walk through, it was much cooler in the hallway, still hot, but less so than the room, "Well, that's better…"

"Area 30," Evy read off the sign above them.

Just then three people, two men and a woman, ran down the corridor towards them, all looking very warm.

"Oi!" one of the men shouted, "You two!"

"Get out of there!" the woman ordered.

"Seal that door!" the first man pointed at the door they'd just come from, "Now!"

The trio looked stunned and confused, not making a move towards the door, prompting the two men to rush forwards and shut it.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded, "What are you doing on my ship?" clearly she was the captain.

"Are you police?" the first man asked, looking them up and down.

"Why would we be police?" Evy frowned, not liking where this was heading.

"We got your distress signal," Martha explained.

"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?" the Doctor brought up the main concern.

"It went dead four minutes ago," the captain replied.

"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to engineering," the second man, an older man, finally spoke, "Captain."

"Secure closure active," a computerized voice sounded from above.

There was a loud clang from down the corridor the crew had just come from as they spun to look down it, "What?" the captain shouted.

"The ship's gone mad," the second man exclaimed.

Someone, a woman, came running down the corridor, just barely managing to keep ahead of the doors slamming shut behind her, "Who activated secure closure?" she asked, running over to them, "I nearly got locked in to Area 27," the last door shut, locking them in Area 30, "Who are you?" she frowned at the trio.

The Doctor moved to answer, but Martha beat him to it, "He's the Doctor, that's Evy, and I'm Martha," she answered distractedly, "Hello," she added before walking towards a small window with a golden light shining through it. Evy frowned and followed her, concerned.

"Impact projection: 42 minutes," the computer announced.

"We'll get out of this," the captain assured her crew, "I promise."

"Doctor…" Martha called shakily as she stared in horror out the window. Evy picked up speed and stepped up to her side, her eyes widening as she saw what had caught Martha's attention.

"42 minutes 'til what?" the Doctor asked, more concerned with the computer's countdown.

"Doctor!" Martha shouted this time, her face pressed against the window as she and Evy peered outside, "Look."

He ran over and looked out the window with them. There, a short distance from the ship, was a burning sun. It was far too close to the ship for comfort and the ship was just getting closer and closer to it.

"42 minutes until we crash into the sun," the captain gave the now too obvious answer.

The Doctor turned away from the window and strode over to the captain, grabbing her arm, "How many crew members on board?" he asked, a slight panic in his voice.

"Seven, including us," she answered.

"We transport cargo across the galaxy," the second man added, "Everything's automated. We just keep the ship…"

He ran back to the door where the TARDIS was located, calling over his shoulder, "Call the others, I'll get you out!" he moved to open the door, the crew members rushing to stop him.

"Doctor don't!" Evy called, realizing why they were reacting in such a way.

"What's he doing?" the first man shouted.

"No!" the captain yelled, "Don't!"

But it was too late, he opened the door, only to be knocked back by the pure force of the heat building in the room. He fell to the ground, yelling as he fell. Martha and Evy immediately ran to his side to help him up while the crew members shut the door.

"But my ship's in there!" he yelled as they sealed the door once more.

"In the vent chamber?" the first man asked incredulously, nothing could survive in there.

"It's our lifeboat!"

"It's lava," the second man shook his head.

"The temperature's going mad in there!" the woman read off the gages, "Up 3,000 degrees in ten seconds, and still rising."

"Channeling the air," the first man added, "The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's gonna get."

"We're stuck here," Martha spat.

"So?" the Doctor asked, not really seeing the problem, "We fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the sun! Simple! Engineering down here, is it?" he ran down the corridor, the group following after him.

"Impact in 40:26," the computer announced.

~8~

The Doctor stopped suddenly as they entered a room to see it completely torn apart, "Blimey!" he looked around, "Do you always leave things in such a mess?"

"Oh my God!" the captain shouted, walking past him and into the room.

"What the hell happened?" the second man asked, walking over to an engine…or what was left of one. Wires, springs, casings, everything was all over the place, all steaming, all destroyed.

"Oh, it's wrecked," the first man picked up a piece and dropped it.

"Pretty efficiently too," the Doctor commented, looking closely at the engine, "Someone knew what they were doing."

Evy wandered over to a computer terminal attached to the wreckage while the Doctor leaned forward and poked around the engine a bit more.

"Where's Korwin?" the captain asked, looking around, "Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"

"No," the second man replied.

"You mean someone did this on purpose?" Martha looked at the Doctor, catching onto what he was implying.

"Korwin?" the captain spoke into an intercom, "Ashton? Where are you?" there was no response, "Korwin, can you answer?" still, there was no response. She pushed away from the intercom turning to her crew, "Where the hell is he? He should be up here!"

The Doctor and Evy continued their activities, ignoring the crew rushing around behind them, trying to repair the ship.

"Oh!" Evy smiled, looking over at the Doctor who was wearing his brainy specs, "We're in the Torajji system."

He turned to Martha, "You're a long way from home, Martha."

"Half a Universe away," Evy added.

"Yeah," Martha replied sarcastically, having no idea how they could both be so calm in such circumstances, "Feels it."

Evy just smiled, seeming to sense her thoughts. In all honesty, for her, the reason she was calm, was because it was the Doctor. She'd had a connection to his mind for centuries now, seen all the dangers he'd gotten himself into, all the dire situations he'd gotten himself out of. If anyone could help save this ship in the neck of time, it would be him. And, if she got to help him do so, well, it would make her feel a bit more like she was as brilliant as him, like she was worthy to be his Link, like she deserved him.

She was terrified of the Link, if she were being truthful. More so terrified of the Doctor ever Linking to her. You never knew which way a Link could go, platonic feelings, romantic feelings, adverse feelings...no feelings...and she was scared. In most cases Linking occured between both individuals, a partial Link, the Link she shared with the Doctor that was only active for her, was rare. Often when the Linking occured, whatever feelings that developed were the same on both sides. She knew she loved the Doctor...but...there  _were_  cases where one party felt one way and the other felt another. In most cases a romantic connection was formed between Linked partners, it was hard for it not to develop given how utterly connected a Time Lord and Lady would feel afterwards. Having seen so much of the other's life, their deepest fears and desires, their soul...to be THAT connected to another person...it was honestly hard not to fall in love with your Link. But it  _did_  depend on the people involved, what sort of people they were.

Some people had lived centuries before finding their Link, their Link could be centuries younger, in which case a more sibling-like Link would form. They would have someone to turn to, to protect them, to have their best interests at heart. Other times Linked parties, usually those who found their Link very young, relatively speaking in Time Lord biology, would become friends, best friends. There would be someone with similar interests, who would understand you, who had your back and was there for you. In certain cases rivalries could occur between Links, those who despised the idea of someone else seeing their deepest thoughts and emotions. Those who wanted to be independent and not have anyone know their weaknesses would forever fight against their Link, prove they didn't need them. Or, nothing could happen at all. A Linked pair could see each other for who they were and walk away, though those were EXTREMELY rare individuals.

It was one of the reasons she didn't want the Doctor to know she was a Time Lady, more specifically, that she was his Link. If he Linked to her and a romantic interest didn't develop...she didn't know what she'd do. She knew he was hurting from losing Rose, she knew he cared for her deeply, possibly loved her, and it hurt. The Link was there, her feelings were there, telling her that he was perfect for  _her_  but had loved Rose. True, he didn't know she existed, he didn't believe another one of his kind was alive, he hadn't even thought he'd ever find his Link on Gallifrey...but it still hurt. She loved him, so much, because of the man he was, the man the Link had allowed her to see. She'd been privy to all his adventures, his toughest decisions, his losses, his joys and hopes and dreams...he was a beautiful soul. She loved him with both her hearts and she wanted him to be happy...if he didn't feel the same, it would crush her but she'd let him go. But it would hurt too much to never be around him. Just as much as it would hurt to be there and see him with another. And she knew he'd feel guilty for hurting her and try to force feelings and she didn't want that at all. She knew it was complete speculation, that she wouldn't know until they'd Linked, if they ever Linked...but...she honestly wasn't sure if she wanted to find out. To love someone and have them not love you in return...

For now...it was easier for her to be with him without him knowing she was his Link. It was safer for her hearts to be with him and know that he didn't notice her because of her own choosing, because of the Perception Filter, and not because he truly didn't want her. She was a coward, she knew, to keep him in the dark about who and what she was, to know he was hurting from losing their people and she was right there, a Time Lady. But...the same could be said for him in a way, he had often been called, and called himself, a coward. Two peas in a pod they were. And it was better for him that he didn't know she was a Time Lady just yet either, for more reasons than just the Link.

"And, you're still using energy scoops for fusion?" the Doctor eyed the captain, his words pulling Evy from her thoughts, "Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"

The crew shared a guilty look with each other, which did not go unnoticed by the trio.

"We're due to upgrade next docking," the captain answered dismissively, walking away from them and over to her crew, "Scannell, engine report."

The second man, Scannell, walked over to the computer Evy was just at and scanned it, everyone looking over his shoulder anxiously. It beeped several times, "No response," he sighed, going over to the engine.

"What?" the captain demanded.

"They're burnt out," Scannell explained, examining wires protruding from the wreck, "They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."

"Oh come on!" the Doctor whipped off his brainy specs, "Auxiliary engines! Every craft's got auxiliaries!"

"We don't have access from here," the captain replied, "The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship."

"Yeah, with 29 password sealed doors between us and them," Scannell added, "You'll never get there in time."

"Can't you override the doors?" Martha frowned.

"No," Scannell shook his head, "Sealed closure means what it says. They're all deadlock sealed."

"So a sonic screwdriver's no use…" Evy mumbled. Darn deadlocks.

"Nothing's any use," Scannell commented, "We've got no engines, no time, and no chance."

"Oh listen to you!" the Doctor chastised him, "Defeated before you've even started! Where's your Dunkirk spirit?" he turned to the captain, "Who's got the door passwords?"

"They're randomly generated," the first man interrupted, "Reckon I know most of 'em. Sorry. Riley Vashti."

"Then what're you waiting for Riley Vashti, get on it," the Doctor ordered, taking charge.

"Well, it's a two person job," he explained, picking up a huge backpack and an equally large magnetic clamp, "One, it takes to answer the questions, and the other to carry this," he put the kit on his back, "The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh captain?"

"Reliable and simple, just like you, eh Riley?" the captain smiled.

"Try and be helpful, get abuse," he joked, "Nice!"

"I'll help you," Martha took the clamp from him, "Make myself useful."

"It's remotely controlled by computer panel. That's why it needs two."

They turned and began to head away from the group when the Doctor called to Martha, "Be careful!"

Evy walked over and gave her a quick hug, "Try and stay safe."

"You too," Martha smiled at them, "The both of you."

They turned and walked off just as a male voice came over the intercom, "McDonnell? It's Ashton."

McDonnell, the captain, rushed to the intercom, "Where are you? Is Korwin with you?"

"Get up to the med-center NOW!" he stated seriously.

McDonnell ran out of the room, the Doctor and Evy following behind, leaving Scannell to work on the wreck. They ran down the hall, passing Martha and Riley who were setting up to work on the first door.

"Impact in 34:31."

~8~

In the med-center, a man, Korwin, was thrashing around on a bed, yelling in agony. His eyes were shut tight in pain while another man, Ashton, and a woman tried to restrain him.

"Argh!" Korwin screamed, twisting in pain, "Stop it!"

"Korwin!" the woman ground out, struggling to hold him down, "It's Abi! Open your eyes, I need to take a look at you!"

"Korwin!" McDonnell shouted as she and the Doctor and Evy ran in, "What's happened? Is he ok?"

The Doctor and Evy ran to the foot of the bed while McDonnell ran to his side.

"Oh God!" he cried out, still thrashing, "Help me! It's burning me!"

"How long's he been like this?" Evy asked.

"Ashton just brought him in," Abi replied.

The Doctor pulled out the sonic and began to scan him, McDonnell panicking, "What are you doing?" she demanded, moving towards Korwin.

Korwin cried out again as the Doctor pulled the sonic back, "Don't get too close …"

"Don't be so stupid, that's my husband!" McDonnell glared at the Doctor.

"And he's just sabotaged our ship!" Ashton told her.

"What?" McDonnell's eye widened in horror and disbelief.

"He went mad," Ashton shook his head, "He set the ship to secure closure, then he set the heat pulse to melt the controls."

"No way! He wouldn't do that!"

"I saw it happen, Captain."

"Korwin?" the Doctor tried, putting the sonic away, "Korwin, open your eyes for me a second. "

"I can't!" he cried through the pain.

"Course you can," Evy encouraged, "Go on."

"Don't make me look at you!" he begged, "Please!"

Evy frowned, seeing he was starting to struggle more. She turned around and picked up a sedative dart gun off the tray and looked at Abi, "Sedative?" she asked. Abi nodded before Evy leaned forward and injected Korwin, he quickly began to calm down.

The Doctor gave her a nod of thanks before perching on the bed, crossing his arms, "Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings…" he said, speaking more to Evy than to anyone else. He knew she'd have a better chance of helping him make sense of this than the rest of the crew, she'd already proved she was rather brilliant. He pointed to the stasis chamber that Korwin was lying on, "Stasis chamber. I do love a good stasis chamber. Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature," that last bit was directed to Abi who was now looking at him questioningly, "And, just for fun, run a bio-scan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail."

"Doctor…" Evy began slowly, catching on to his suspicions. He just shook his head, silencing her.

"Just doing them now," Abi commented, turning back to her work.

"Oh, you're good," the Doctor smiled.

"Does anyone else have these symptoms?" Evy asked.

"Not so far," Abi sighed.

"Well, that's something," the Doctor remarked.

"Will someone tell me what is the matter with him?" McDonnell demanded from her position still standing at Korwin's side.

"Some sort of infection," the Doctor replied offhandedly, "We'll know more after the test results. Now, Allons-y, back downstairs. See about those engines. Go," Ashton made to leave but McDonnell remained stationary.

"Oi!" Evy looked at her, "He said go!"

She cast one more glance at Korwin before reluctantly leaving as well.

"Call us if there's news!" he called out to Abi as he and Evy made to leave the med-center, "Any questions?"

"Yeah," she called, "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor!" he said, sticking his head through the plastic door before popping back into the hallway.

"And I'm Evy," she added, rushing after him.

"Heat shields failing. At 25 percent in 32:50."

~8~

They had flittered around the engine room for a bit, trying to salvage as much as they could as quickly as they could.

"Abi, how's Korwin doing?" Evy asked over the intercom as she looked down at the engine, trying her mechanical skills at repairing it but it was in even worse condition than the was TARDIS after the Doctor tried to 'fix' something, "Any results from the bio-scan?"

"He's under heavy sedation," Abi's voice drifted back to them, "I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll let you know."

The Doctor nodded, when he noticed Evy staring at him. "What?" he asked, switching the link off.

"Doctor," she began quietly, frowning, concerned, "Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings…that's going to burn off the sedation faster than normal."

He sighed, nodded, he should have expected she'd pick up on that, "We'll just have to hope it last long enough," he turned back to the comm. station and went to switch something on the intercom, "Martha?" he called, now trying to contact them, "Riley? How're you doing?"

"Area 29," Martha replied, "At the door to 28!"

He put on his brainy specs and began looking over the readouts above the comm., "You've gotta move faster!"

"We're doing our best!"

"Find the next number in the sequence," Riley's voice spoke as well, "3-1-3, 3-3-1, 3-6-7…what?"

"You said the crew knew all the answers!" Martha shouted back, both of them clearly forgetting they were still over the intercom.

"The crew's changed since we set the questions," he defended.

"You're joking…" Martha breathed.

"3-7-9!" Evy shouted just as the Doctor went to open his mouth. He turned to stare at her, wide eyed, his mouth still open to answer.

"What?" Martha asked.

"It's a sequence of happy primes," Evy continued, her gaze still on the engine, "3-7-9."

"Happy what?" Martha's voice repeated.

"Just enter it!" Evy shouted, getting a bit annoyed.

"Are you sure?" Riley asked worriedly, "We only get one chance!"

Evy sighed, before explaining clearly, "A number that reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits and continue iterating till it yields one is a happy number. Anything else, isn't. A happy prime, a number that's both happy and prime...now type it in!"

McDonnell gave her a dirty look as she climbed down the ladder into the engine room. The Doctor, on the other hand, had moved past shock to amusement, "Talk about dumbing down!" he laughed.

"I know," Evy smiled, looking up and shooting him a grin, "They really should teach recreational mathematics again."

There was a noise of a clamp locking in and a door unlocking over the intercom followed by Martha's exuberant shouts, "We're through!"

"Keep moving," the Doctor told them, "Fast as you can."

Evy put down her tool and walked over to the station to stand by the Doctor, "Martha," she said quietly, concern evident in her voice, "Be careful. There may be something else on board this ship."

"Any time you wanna unnerve me, feel free!" was Martha's reply.

"Will do, thanks!" the Doctor replied, switching off the intercom and walking back to the engine with Evy.

"Impact in 30:50."

~8~

"We need a backup," Evy remarked as the remaining crew stood around the pieces of broken equipment. She'd learned VERY early on that the Doctor hardly ever had a plan during his adventures, and what little of a plan he came up with typically failed rather quickly. In which case, it was always best to have a backup. It seemed even during her time in the Mason Institute, the back of her mind had continued to come up with a plethora of backup plans the Doctor could have used on his adventures. It seemed that sentiment had stuck with her throughout all her regenerations and she found herself always trying to come up with a backup to his plans.

The Doctor seemed to agree as he nodded, "In case they don't reach the auxiliary engines in time. Come on! Think! Resources, what have we got?"

Suddenly Martha's voice sounded over the intercom, "Evy? Doctor?"

"What is it now?" he turned to glance at the comm..

"Who had the most number ones, Elvis or the Beatles? That's pre-download."

"Elvis," Evy responded quickly.

"No!" the Doctor shouted, "The Beatles!"

"No!" Evy argued.

"Wait!" he cut in, "Um…um…" he looked around frantically, actually looking like not knowing was hurting him before he began to smack himself on the back of his head.

"Doctor!" Evy shouted, going over to him and grabbing his hands, "Stop that."

"Argh!" he ground out, frustrated, "What was that remix? Um…I don't know! I am a bit busy!"

"Fine," Martha snapped back, irritated, "I'll ask someone else!"

"Martha it…" Evy began, but Martha had switched off the intercom.

"Now, where was I?" the Doctor asked, not bothered in the slightest that Martha was now cross with him, "Here comes the sun. No, resources."

"The power's still working," Evy said suddenly, his words about resources and the sun making her think of solar power, "That means the generator's going. If we can harness that we can…"

"Use the generator to jumpstart the ship," McDonnell finished.

"Exactly!" the Doctor shouted, running forward and pulling Evy into a celebratory hug, "Brilliant! At the very least, it'll buy us some more time."

"That…is brilliant," she admitted, perhaps these strangers really  _could_  help.

"Isn't it?" the Doctor asked, very impressed, "See! Tiny glimmer of hope!"

" _If_  it works," Scannell remarked while the rest of the crew smiled at the chance for a way out.

"Oh, believe me," McDonnell smirked at him, "You're gonna make it work."

Scannell walked off, looking more than a bit dejected. Ashton, Evy, and the Doctor just looked at McDonnell with respect, still smiling.

"That told him," Evy laughed.

"Impact in 29:46."

~8~

Evy was stationed next to Scannell, helping him work on the generator while the Doctor went over some statistics with McDonnell and Ashton when Abi came over the intercom.

"Doctor, these readings are starting to scare me!"

"What d'you mean?" he asked as he and Evy stopped what they were doing to listen.

"Well, Korwin's body's changing!" Abi informed them, "His whole biological makeup, it…it's impossible."

There was a bang and then Abi was back, sounding frightened, "This is med-center…" her voice was starting to rise in panic, "Urgent assistance requested. Urgent assistance!"

"He's awake!" Evy reasoned before she and the Doctor were up and out the door, running towards the med-center.

"Stay here!" the Doctor shouted over his shoulder, "Keep working!"

McDonnell, of course, did not take orders from him and began to follow, leaving Ashton and Scannell in the engine room.

"Urgent assistance!" Abi called over the intercom again.

"Abi," the other female crew member replied, "They're on their way."

"What's happening to you?" Abi was asking someone over the intercom as the Doctor, Evy, and McDonnell continued to run.

Then, another voice sounded, deep, threatening, "Burn with me," it said, "Burn with me…"

The trio was running faster now when the Doctor suddenly slowed down and turned around to see Scannell had followed them, "Captain?" Scannell shouted, catching up.

"I told you to stay in engineering!" the Doctor glared at him.

"I only take orders form one person round here," Scannell returned the glare.

"Oh, is he always so bright and cheery?" Evy remarked.

"Burn with me," the voice sounded over the intercom. The group looked at each other a moment before taking off towards the med-center again.

"K...Korwin, you're sick…" Abi was saying, sounding truly frightened.

"Burn. With. Me!" the voice replied, more sinister.

And then there was screaming, Abi screaming in pain and terror. The group ran faster, trying in vain to get there in time, to save her.

There was static for a moment before the intercom switched and Martha's voice rang through, "Doctor, what were those screams?"

"Concentrate on those doors!" he yelled, still running, "You've gotta keep moving forward!"

"Impact in 27:06."

~8~

They burst through the plastic sheeting the separated the med-center from the rest of the ship, Korwin's bed now empty.

"Korwin's gone…" McDonnell whispered, shaken, as Evy walked towards it.

"Oh my God," Scannell breathed, facing the wall behind them. They turned around to look at a body shaped black mark burned into the wall. Abi. The Doctor walked towards it, "Tell me that's not Lerner."

The Doctor ran his finger over the outline of the shape, "Endothermic vaporisation. I've never seen one this ferocious," he looked down in thought, muttering distantly to himself, "Burn with me."

"That's what we heard Korwin say," Scannell commented.

"What?" McDonnell's eyes widened, "D'you think…no way! Scannell, tell him! Korwin is not a killer! He can't vaporize people! He's human!"

"His bio-scan results…" Evy said. They looked over to see her holding them up to the light by the bed, "Internal temperature was 100 degrees. Body oxygen was replaced by hydrogen. Your husband wasn't infected, he was overwhelmed!"

She stalked over and snatched the results out of the girl's hands, "The test results are wrong!"

"But what is it though?" the Doctor frowned, "Parasite? Mutagenic virus? Something that needs a host body. But how did it get inside him?"

"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!" McDonnell shouted at him.

"Where's the ship been? Have you made planet-fall recently?" McDonnell stared at him blankly, "Docked with any other vessels? Any kind of external contact at all?"

"What is this?" she frowned, "An interrogation?"

"We've got to stop him before he kills again," Evy replied softly.

"We're just…a cargo ship," McDonnell said in defeat. She turned away from the duo, distraught. Scannell waked to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"If you give her a minute…" Scannell began.

They looked on a moment before McDonnell recovered and turned to face them, a brave front on, "I'm fine. I need to warn the crew," she handed Evy the scan results back for her and the Doctor to puzzle over as she went to the intercom, "Everybody listen to me! Something has infected Korwin. We think…" she looked up at the Doctor and Evy before turning back to the comm., "He killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"

"Understood Captain," Ashton replied before the comm. went silent.

"Impact in 24:51."

~8~

The Doctor and Evy were standing by a desk in the med-center, still looking over the results of the bio-scan while McDonnell sat against the wall, Scannell standing close by.

"Is the infection permanent?" she asked them, "Can you cure him?"

The Doctor and Evy looked at each other before Evy replied slowly, "We...don't know."

"Don't lie to me," she told them, "Eleven years we've been married. We chose this ship together. He keeps me honest. So I don't want false hope."

The Doctor turned back to McDonnell, "The parasite's too aggressive. Your husband's gone. There's no way back. Sorry."

McDonnell nodded slowly, "Thank you."

"Are you…certain nothing happened to provoke this?" Evy asked, walking towards her.

"Nobody's working on anything secret," the Doctor agreed, "'Cos it's vital that you tell us."

"I know every inch of this ship," she said seriously, "I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing."

"Then why is this thing so interested in you?" Evy asked.

"I wish I knew…" she shook her head sadly.

"Doctor," Martha called over the intercom, "We're through to Area 17."

"Keep going," he replied, "You've got to get to Area 1 and reboot those engines."

"Heat shield failing. At 20 percent."

~8~

They had gotten quite used to the computer's announcements, but nothing could have prepared the small group for what was about to be said.

"Airlock sealed. Jettison escape pod."

The group looked up, startled, "What does that mean?" the Doctor looked at McDonnell, but before she could respond Martha was on the intercom.

"Doctor!"

"Martha!" Evy shouted, running to the keypad.

"Pod jettison initiated," the computer announced.

"What?" the Doctor yelled.

"Doctor!" Martha called again, "We're stuck in an escape pod off the Area 17 airlock," the Doctor and Evy were out the door of the med-center before she could even finish her sentence and running down the corridors, McDonnell and Scannell following behind, "One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You've gotta help us!"

They stopped running, entering the engine room to see it deserted.

"Tell me you can stop it," Martha spoke to Riley.

"Why is this happening?" McDonnell asked as the Doctor and Evy took in the sight of the trashed room, looking worse than how they left it.

"Stay here!" the Doctor ordered, taking off his specs, "I mean it this time!" he started to run off when he saw Evy following, "That goes for you as well Evy," he stopped.

She glared at him, "Martha is my friend too!"

And then she was off, running down the corridor, leaving him to follow, "Jump start those engines!" he shouted back to them, taking off after her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added a bit more in this chapter about one of the reasons why Evy is hesitant to show the Doctor she's a Time Lady as well as his Link. I didn't want to pile too much into the Family of Blood episodes about what the Link is and her reasonings, I've managed to space it out here and into Blink as well :)
> 
> Next chapter will have a small touching moment for the Doctor and Evy at the end, along with a bit more of the down side of the Link coming into play, more suspicions abound for Martha :)


	9. 42 (Part 2)

"Jettison held," came over the loudspeaker as the Doctor and Evy ran towards the escape pods.

"Thank you…" Riley muttered over the intercom.

"Jettison reactivated."

"No!" Evy shouted, running faster, the Doctor running with her, having caught up to her.

"Come on…" Riley said again. They could faintly hear the sound of taping on a key pad, "Geovinsci sequence. This'll get him."

"Smart kid," the Doctor commented as they continued to run, trying to get to Martha in time.

"Jettison held. Escape pod stabilized."

"Yes!" they shouted as they passed Area 18.

They reached Area 17 just in time to see a man standing there with a welding helmet on quickly tapping a keypad on the wall outside the escape pod.

"That's enough!" Evy shouted as the man, Ashton judging by his clothes, turned to face them.

"What do you want?" the Doctor asked, "Why this ship? Tell me!"

Ashton just turned and put his fist through the keypad.

"Jettison activated."

They looked up at the loudspeaker, hoping to hear from Martha or Riley, but there was nothing. The comm. system had been shut down by the jettison activation.

"Come on," the Doctor called, drawing Ashton out, "Let's see you," the man advanced towards the Doctor, who lightly pushed Evy to the side, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye and nodding briefly towards the keypad. Evy nodded, getting his message loud and clear, not even having to read his mind to see his plan, before pressing herself against the wall and sliding alongside it, around Ashton as he focused on the Doctor. As soon as she was past him she ran to the wall, frantically grabbing wires out of the hole to try and bypass the computer system, locking the pod in.

"I wanna know what you really are…" the Doctor continued as Ashton stood nearly nose-to-nose with him, Evy's attention shifting between the panel and watching the Doctor in case he needed help.

Ashton lifted his hand to the visor, about to open it, when he suddenly doubled over in pain and backed away. The Doctor tensed as Ashton was now closer to Evy than him and watched carefully as he stood upright and headed straight for the Doctor…only to walk past him.

"Airlock sealed," the computer announced. Seeing the Doctor out of danger Evy went straight to work on the panel.

He looked at Evy in confusion. She just shrugged, she had no idea what had just happened either.

The Doctor ran to the closest comm. link and called up McDonnell, "McDonnell! Ashton's heading in your direction! He's been infected, just like Korwin!"

"Korwin's dead, Doctor," Scannell replied after a moment.

"Airlock decompression completed. Jettisoning pod."

"No!" Evy ground out, frantically tugging on wires and crossing them, trying to stop it. But it was too late.

The Doctor ran over to the airlock door, looking through it to see Martha stuck in the pod a few feet away. She was tapping on the glass porthole facing the airlock and calling out for him though he couldn't hear her. Not only that, she was calling for Evy as well. He reached over and pulled her away from the panel and over to the airlock.

"Martha!" she shouted, though she knew she wouldn't be able to hear her.

"I'll save you!" the Doctor called as well.

They could only watch in horror as the pod disengaged and she grew smaller and smaller as the pod slowly moved out into space, headed directly towards the sun.

"Impact in 17:05."

"Oh shut it!" Evy shouted at the computerized voice, stalking over to the panel and working on the wires, there had to be  _something_  she could do.

The Doctor glared at the door Ashton had just gone through before storming over to the intercom, "Scannell!" he shouted, "I need a spacesuit in Area 17, now!"

"What for?" Scannell asked.

"Just get down here!" Evy ordered from her spot by the panel. Both of them were frustrated and very angry at the moment.

~8~

"I can't let you do this," Scannell said as the Doctor finished putting on the spacesuit.

"You're wasting your breath Scannell," the Doctor said, "I've been through this with Evy already."

Evy frowned, she hadn't  _exactly_  argued with him per say. If she had really been arguing, she would have negotiated, no  _demanded_ , that she go out there instead of him. But she knew she couldn't. She knew someone like them, a Time Lord, would be able to survive what he was planning, he still thought she was human. If she went out there and survived, he'd realize she wasn't exactly what she claimed she was. Not even the Perception Filter would keep him from figuring  _that_  out. She also knew that if she did truly debate this with him, she would get far too into the argument and something would slip out. She was never very good at keeping her mouth shut when she got upset.

It was a trick her brother knew well enough when they'd been on Gallifrey. Often, whenever he wanted her to admit something, he would lure her into an argument and turn it in the direction of the topic he was asking about just to get her to slip up. He never really had to do much to get her to talk though, he was her older brother, he was always watching out for her and she knew that he only really got her going when he was worried about her. Not many people liked him, he didn't like many people either, and sometimes other people weren't very kind to her because of it. Usually it was other children. They would pick on her and he would get mad at them and want to know who they were so he could do something about it, so he could get them to stop, so he could protect her. She didn't like how he got in trouble because of her, defending her, so she always tried not to tell him when something happened to upset her, but he always managed to worm it out of her.

It was why she had to be extra careful now, she couldn't say the wrong thing around the Doctor. She hadn't argued with him much over this because, in reality, she knew he'd be ok, she knew he'd survive, so instead, she'd halfheartedly argued with him against going out there.

"You wanna open an airlock, in flight, on a ship spinning into the sun," Scannell stared at him, "No one can survive that!"

"Oh, just you watch," the Doctor smirked.

"You open that airlock, it's suicide! This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."

"If he can manage to breach the magnetic lock on the outside of the ship, it'll remagnetize the pod," Evy explained.

The Doctor nodded, "Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of those doors open. We  _need_  those auxiliary engines."

"Doctor, will you listen!" Scannell grabbed his arm, "They're too far away, it's too late!"

"We're not gonna lose her," Evy said quietly, finishing with the panel and walking over to the Doctor. She took his helmet from him and put it over his head, "You come back safe and sound or I'll kill you."

He smiled at her and winked before going to the airlock door. Evy walked back over to the panel, tweaking a wire and opening the door. He walked in as she shut it behind him.

"Decompression, initiating," the computer announced as the air in the cell began to be sucked out, "Impact in 12:55."

Evy turned to Scannell, "You go work on the doors, I've got to stay here and work these," she nodded at the airlock doors, to the mess of wires sticking out of the panel.

"You keep an eye on him," Scannell told her before rushing off to get McDonnell for help.

"You have no idea," she muttered to herself before turning to look out the airlock.

~8~

"Impact in 11:15," the computer announced as Evy watched the Doctor maneuvering his way to the exterior airlock door, "Heat shield failing. At 10 percent."

He turned around and nodded at her so she reached over and tweaked another wire, the exterior door opened. She turned back to the door and watched the Doctor recoil from the heat before making his way out of the frame, fighting the vacuum and reaching for the controls just outside the ship. Evy frowned as she could tell he was straining to succeed.

"Come on!" she could hear through the comm. link she'd given him, "Go on my son!"

"Doctor!" she called out, feeling him struggling again, "How're you?"

"I can't!" he called back, breathing hard, "I can't reach! I don't know how much longer I can last!"

"Come on!" she replied, "Don't give up now! You're the Doctor, you can do anything! Now reach!"

She must have said something right, because the next thing she knew there was a cry of strength from the Doctor and then a noise of the re-magnetization kicking in.

She watched in happiness as the Doctor fell back into the airlock on his knees, staring out at space to see Martha's pod heading back. But the happiness didn't last long as she felt something shifting through the Link. Her grin disappeared to be replaced by a frown as she heard the Doctor muttering through the comm., "It's alive…it's alive? It's alive!"

"Impact in. 8:57."

Evy stared at the Doctor in horror through the airlock doors as the exterior doors shut and air flowed into the room again, something had gone horribly wrong. He removed his helmet and she could literally feel the pain coursing through him.

"Airlock recompression completed."

She quickly rigged the doors to open, the Doctor falling through the airlock and into the corridor on his knees. Evy quickly knelt by his side, biting her tongue to keep from alerting him to the fact she could feel his pain. She held him, trying to soothe him as he writhed on the floor.

"Doctor!" Martha shouted, rushing over to them as soon as she and Riley escaped the pod, "Is he ok?" she looked at Evy who was staring at the Doctor.

He opened his eyes to reveal them glowing like miniature suns, before clamping them shut again and trying to scuttle away from them. He pulled himself out of Evy's arms and over to the corner of the corridor, "Stay away from me!" he growled at them.

Martha quickly backed away but Evy would have none of that. She crawled over to his side, pulling him into her arms again. But this time, instead of fighting it, he actually grabbed her arms, holding onto her for dear life as he convulsed in pain.

"What's happened?" McDonnell asked, running down the corridor.

"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell," Evy whispered, running a hand through the Doctor's hair, trying to calm him, trying to calm herself as well. She could hear everything going on in the Doctor's mind, the star that was trying to possess him.

McDonnell looked shocked but quickly turned to Riley, "Riley! Get down to Area 10 and help Scannell with the doors. Go!"

"You mined that sun!" the Doctor shouted, "Stripped its surface for cheap fuel! You should have scanned for life!"

"I don't understand," McDonnell shook her head frantically.

"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Martha frowned, afraid.

"That sun is alive!" Evy turned to glare at the captain, hating her for putting the Doctor in a situation where he was in that much pain, she was barely containing it herself, "A living organism!"

"They scooped out its heart, used it for fuel, and now it's screaming!" the Doctor cried in agony.

"What do you mean?" McDonnell's eyes widened in horror, "How can a sun be alive? Why's he saying that?"

"Because it's living in him," Evy frowned, turning back to the Doctor, rocking him a bit.

"Oh my God…"

"Humans!" the Doctor spat, "You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry!" he screamed again, "You should have scanned!"

"It takes too long! We'd be caught! Fusion scoops are illegal."

"You've got to freeze me," the Doctor said suddenly, "Quickly!"

"What?" Martha demanded, running to his side as she saw Evy struggling to lift him.

"Stasis chamber!" Evy replied, beginning to head down the hall, "We'll have to him…below minus 200," she said after a moment, not even caring that she shouldn't know the temperatures a Time Lord could survive in. She didn't care, she'd deal with whatever came of it as long as it meant the Doctor was alive in the end.

"Freeze it out of me!" he screamed again, Evy was fighting back tears, he was scared, no he was  _terrified_  now, "It'll use me to kill you if you don't!" he grabbed onto Evy's arm tightly, "The closer we get to the sun, the stronger..." he doubled over in pain, "It gets! Med-center! Quickly! Quickly!"

They half dragged, half carried him down the hall to med-center, McDonnell following behind.

"Impact in 7:30."

~8~

They ran through the plastic sheeting, the Doctor crying out in agony. Evy had tripped several times from the waves of pain now rippling through her from the Link. But somehow she managed to stand and keep going. Until, that is, the Doctor dropped to his knees, screaming. Martha ran to grab an instruction manual while Evy knelt beside the Doctor, struggling to hold him up.

"I can do it!" Martha mumbled to herself as she flipped through the book.

"Evy!" the Doctor cried, reaching out blindly, refusing to open his eyes, "Where are you?"

"I'm here," she squeezed his arm harder so he could feel her above the pain, "It's alright, I'm right here."

He twisted a bit, grabbing onto her. He didn't know what was happening to him, but through the pain, there was only one thought racing through his mind...he needed Evy. He didn't know why, but he did. He needed her.

Martha looked up from the book, glancing at her two friends kneeling on the ground, pausing just a moment to observe. The Doctor was clinging to Evy as though she would disappear, like he didn't want to ever let go. She could feel her heart break just a bit when she realized that, despite having known her longer, he'd called out for Evy, not her. He wanted Evy's comfort, not hers. But…looking at them, at how Evy was holding him close, trying to help him, she couldn't find it in her to be hateful or anything. This was far too life threatening a situation to be petty.

"Minus 200, yeah?" she asked, looking to Evy.

Evy nodded, hefting the Doctor to his feet with the help of McDonnell. Between the two of them, they managed to get the Doctor onto the stasis chamber bed, but the Doctor refused to let go of Evy's arm.

"You'll kill him!" McDonnell shouted when she saw Martha about to program the machine for -200, "Nobody can survive those temperatures!"

"He's not human!" Martha shouted.

"He told us to freeze him," Evy added, "That means he can."

Martha frowned, hearing a quiver in her friend's voice. She looked over to see Evy was sweating and shaking and looked like she was almost in as much pain as the Doctor. She was about to ask her what was wrong when McDonnell spoke again.

"Let me help you then!"

"You've done enough damage," Evy spat, glaring at the woman who backed away as though she had been slapped. Martha turned back to the machine, "Ten seconds. That's all he'll be able to take."

"Evy!" he screamed, grabbing her arm again.

"Yeah?" she looked down at him. Martha's gaze softened as she saw how tenderly Evy was looking at the Doctor, stroking his hair, trying to keep him going. There was something about the look in her eye...

He groaned before managing to speak, "It's burning me up."

"I know," she whispered sorrowfully, her voice full of pain.

"I can't control it. If you don't get rid of it…" his voice changed, becoming darker, more like the voice that had been over the intercom, "I could kill you. I could kill you all."

"But you won't," she insisted, trying to smile despite the fact she was pretty sure she was crying right now, "And you want to know why? Because you're too damn stubborn. And you're too strong to be beaten by some stupid old star. You're too kind…you're too good…you're the Doctor," she sobbed just a bit, "You help people, you don't…you could  _never_ …hurt them."

Her words had a great impact on him, he broke through the star's control once more, screaming. But now he was whimpering, sounding so childlike and broken, genuinely frightened, "I'm scared!" he admitted, "I'm so scared!"

"Just…stay calm," Martha called, "You saved me, now I return the favor. Just…just believe in me."

"You can do it Martha," Evy looked up, trying to smile at her friend despite her utter fear for her Link.

"It's bloody killing me!" the Doctor shouted, "Then what'll happen?"

"That's enough!" Martha shouted, "We've got you!"

"There's this process," he tried to get through, "This…this thing…that happens…if I'm about to die…"

"Shh…" Evy whispered, stroking his cheek, "Quiet now. That is  _not_  gonna happen. Not yet."

"You ready?" Martha asked.

"No!" the Doctor shouted, struggling.

Evy barely managed to hold him down as she gave Martha the nod to start. The bed moved, pulling the Doctor into the stasis chamber. His grip on Evy's arm tightened as he tried to hold onto her, being pulled in, forcing his hand to slide down her arm, trying in vain to hold onto her hand before it was pulled away from him as well. Evy took a single step back as Martha typed in -200 and pushed the button to begin the process.

Then the screaming began.

But Martha was more terrified by the fact that it wasn't just the Doctor screaming. Evy had collapsed on the ground as well, convulsing and screaming in time with the Doctor.

"Heat shields failing. At 5 percent."

~8~

Martha looked between Evy, screaming on the floor as McDonnell held her to keep her from hurting herself, and the temperature still decreasing.

"No!" she shouted, when the chamber hit -70 and shut off.

Evy's screams ceased and turned into whimpers as the Doctor called out from the chamber, "No! Martha you can't stop it! Not yet!"

"What's happened?" Martha looked around at the controls.

"Power's been cut in engineering," McDonnell replied, helping a shaking Evy to stand.

"But who's down there?"

"Leave it to me," McDonnell said grimly before taking off.

The Doctor began screaming again. Martha looked at Evy to see her biting her lip but still standing.

"Impact in 4:47."

~8~

Martha and Evy were crouched next to the control panel for the stasis chamber, trying to get it working again, but with no luck.

"Come on!" Martha hit it, "You're defrosting."

Inside the chamber the Doctor cried out in pain once more, "Evy! Martha! Listen!" Martha leaned over to peer inside the chamber, "I've only got a moment. You've gotta go!"

"No way!" Martha shouted.

"The sun particles," Evy mumbled, sensing the Doctor's plan, she looked up sharply at Martha, grabbing her shoulders and straightening her so she could look her in the eyes, "Go to the front and vent the engines! You need to get rid of the sun particles in the fuel!"

"We can't just leave him," Martha argued.

"I'll stay with him," Evy replied, "I won't make it there in time," she added, still shaking, far too badly to be able to run easily enough to make it there.

"You've got to go!" the Doctor shouted, "Give back what they took!"

"Doctor!" Martha frowned.

"Please!" Evy shook her a bit, "Go! I'll watch him."

Martha nodded, "I'll be right back."

Evy swallowed hard, watching as Martha ran out of the room. There was only one thing she could do for the Doctor now...

"Impact in 4:08."

~8~

"Impact in 2:17."

The Doctor fell out of the stasis chamber, Evy was on her knees next to him within seconds. She could still feel the sun inside of him, weakened though it was from the brief stint at being frozen. She reached out and pulled him into her arms as he continued to fight the sun.

"Survival element protection. 0 percent."

"I'm sorry," Evy mumbled to him, pushing some of his hair out of his face, "Forgive me."

She took a breath and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his. Had this been any other time, she would have been thrilled, the first kiss between Links, romantically involved Links, was a treasured experience. But that was  _not_  what she was planning. Right now she wasn't kissing her Link, she was pulling the sun out of him.

She could feel the heat in her mouth, quickly spreading through her body as the sun left him and entered her. The pain was excruciating, much worse now that it was in her. But she could take comfort in the fact that, while it had still hurt her when in the Doctor, the Doctor wouldn't be hurt while it was in her. She fell back, scuttling away from the Doctor much like he'd done to her.

"Evy?" she could hear him whisper, but she couldn't see him. She squeezed her eyes shut, pressing herself against the wall as much as she could.

"Evy?" he repeated, his voice sounding stronger than before.

She grunted, trying her best not to cry out as the sun burned in her, trying to take her over, strengthening as the ship drew nearer to the sun itself and it thrived in a nice,  _warm_  body once more.

"What have you done?" his voice was right next to her now. She could feel someone wrapping their arms around her and something close to her mouth.

"Won't work," she ground out, "Won't leave me for you."

"Why did you do that?" he asked, shaking her a bit.

She couldn't answer as a scream ripped through her. The sun was angry and powerful.

She thrashed about in his arms, fighting with everything she had to keep herself together.

"Martha!" she heard him shout.

"Doctor!" Martha's voice sounded over the intercom, "What are you doing?"

"You've got to hurry Martha! It's Evy! The star's in her now."

"What?" Martha gasped, "But how…I thought…but it…"

"Not now!" he snapped, "Just give the cells back! Hurry!"

She could hear the static as he cut off the feed.

"Evy," he whispered in her ear, but she couldn't respond, just kept screaming.

"Impact in 1:21."

"Just hold on," he breathed, pushing her hair way from her face, "Just a little longer."

She screamed once more, arching her back as her eyes snapped open to reveal the light of the sun. She could feel it, her whole body glowing with the sun's power.

"Impact in 1:06."

"Come on Martha," the Doctor mumbled, holding her tighter despite the heat emanating from her, his hearts racing at seeing the girl in pain as he had been.

Moments later he breathed a sigh of relief as the glowing began to cease and Evy stopped screaming. Her eyes returned to their normal green before closing however she was shaking terribly in his arms. She was breathing heavily, still in pain when the ship gave a lurch.

"Impact averted. Impact averted."

"You hear that?" he whispered to her, smiling, "She did it. We're safe," but Evy didn't respond. His smile faded as concern crept into him, "Evy?" he asked, shaking her slightly.

She still didn't wake.

"Evy!"

Nothing.

"Evelyn!" he tried once more. He was about to check her vitals when someone ran into the room.

"Evy!" Martha shrieked, running to her side, "What happened?" she looked at the Doctor.

"She managed to absorb the sun out of me," he muttered. It made sense, the sun could obviously jump from host to host, why wouldn't it leave him for someone not half frozen.

"How?" Martha frowned.

"Partially frozen host…" Evy mumbled as though reading his mind, her eyes fluttering open, "Or a nice warm one? Which would you prefer?"

"Evy!" Martha pulled the girl out of the Doctor's arms and into her own, nearly suffocating her with a bone crushing hug, "You're alright!"

"Why did you do that?" the Doctor asked quietly, staring at her, more serious than she'd ever seen him before.

"You're more important than me," she shrugged simply.

He was more important to so many people, to the Universe, to her. He was more important to her than anything, she could have said, far more than her own life.

That was more than enough of a reason to risk hers to save his.

~8~

The ship was now a safe distance from the sun, just far enough away and with just barely enough fuel to keep it that way till help arrived.

Riley and Scannell, the two remaining crew memebrs, were standing in front of the TARDIS, admiring her while the Doctor, Martha, and Evy walked around it, checking her.

"This is never your ship!" Scannell shook his head in disbelief.

"Compact!" the Doctor grinned, "Eh! And another good word, robust! Barely a scorch mark on her."

"We can't just leave them drifting with no fuel," Martha turned to them, concerned.

"We've sent out an official mayday," Riley assured her, "The authorities will pick us up soon enough."

"Though how we explain what happened…" Scannell trailed.

"Just tell them…" Evy began softly, "That sun needs care and protection, just like any other living thing."

Scannell nodded as the Doctor held the door open for Evy to step through, following after her, when Riley grabbed Martha's arm to keep her back a moment.

"So…uh, you're off then?" he asked, she nodded, "No chance I'll see you again?"

"Not really," she smiled sadly, "It was nice…not dying with you," they laughed half heartedly, "I reckon you'll find someone worth believing in."

"I think I already did," he gave her a meaningful look. Martha hesitated a moment before launching herself at him and kissing him, a very pleasant surprise for Riley.

When she pulled back, a bit embarrassed, she gave him an awkward smile, "Well done. Very  _hot_."

Riley just laughed at that as Martha stepped into the TARDIS, shutting the door behind her. She walked up the ramp to the center console beaming, "So! Didn't really need you in the end, did we?" her grin faltered when she saw the Doctor looking sad and staring at something. She followed his gaze to see him watching Evy who was leaning against the railing of the console, her arms crossed and eyes closed. She frowned even more as she thought about the events that had transpired. There was something about that girl that Martha wasn't certain about, but she was determined to find out what it was.

"How're you doing?" she asked him, concerned. He'd been  _very_  cross with Evy after her stunt with the sun and Martha was more than a little concerned that he might send Evy away. They'd become good friends, no matter what secrets the girl might be keeping, and she didn't want to see her off so soon.

"Now!" the Doctor turned to her, suddenly cheerful, "What do you say? Ice skating on the mineral lakes of Koorharn? Fancy it?"

"Time Lords and their mood swings," Evy mumbled, pushing off the railing and walking over to the console to stand by Martha.

"Whatever you like," Martha replied, slightly unenthusiastically. She'd been hoping he would  _talk_  to her, give her something to explain everything that had happened, but...nothing...as always.

The Doctor looked over at her tone, "By the way, you'll be needing this…" he pulled out a key to the TARDIS on a long chain.

"Really?" Martha asked, staring at it in shock. She looked at Evy who was smiling at her.

"Frequent Flyer's Privilege," he smiled, dropping the key into her hands, "And thank you."

"Yes," Evy added, stepping up and hugging Martha from the side, "Thank you."

Martha blushed at all the praise and attention, "Don't mention it."

He glanced at Evy, his smile weakening.

Suddenly Martha realized she'd never exactly explained anything to her mother, having called her a few times during this trip, "Oh no! Mum!" she quickly walked off to speak to her mother in private, leaving the Doctor and Evy alone by the console.

The Doctor looked up, leaning against the console, crossing his arms, as he stared at Evy a moment, "If you ever do something like that again," he told her seriously, "I'll send you back to Jack."

Evy's gaze hardened as she crossed her arms as well, "Well then you'd better take me to Cardiff because I can't promise that," he opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand, cutting him off, "I'm well aware of your near death experiences Doctor, but seeing it firsthand…like with the lightning in New York…it's  _different_. You always seem to have a way out or a plan of some sort, but not this time," she looked at him, straight in the eyes, "This time you were _scared_. This time, you didn't have a way out."

She looked down, sighing, "I'm not deluded enough to think you won't put yourself in a dangerous situation again and I can't promise I won't step in to help you, anyone and everyone would do the same. But I can tell you this, I'll only do it when you have  _no_ way out alright?" she looked back up at him and he could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes, "You are  _so_ monumentally important Doctor. You protect the Universe," she shook her head lightly, "But you have no one to protect  _you_ ," she took a breath before turning to walk out of the room, "You can put the coordinates for Cardiff in. I'll go pack up."

He stood there a moment, at a loss for words, which didn't happen very often. He walked over to a monitor on the console, doing as she said and putting in the coordinates for Cardiff. He reached out, resting a hand on the lever that would activate the TARDIS and send them on their way. He curled his fingers around it, his arm tensing as though he were about to pull it when he sighed and let his arm drop.

He couldn't do it.

He couldn't explain it, but he  _didn't_  want her to go. He didn't want her to leave.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair before stalking out of the room. He walked down a few halls before he came to a plain wooden door that would lead to the room he'd given her. He looked at the carving on it, Evy, with two small hummingbirds on either side of her name. He took a breath and opened the door to see she was indeed packing her few belongings up.

"You don't have to do that," he called. She stiffened and put the folded clothing down next to the pack but not moving otherwise, "I'm not happy about your promise though."

She turned to face him, "And I don't particularly care," she told him straight out, walking up to stand before him in her doorway. She looked up at him, searching his eyes, seeing the pain and the sorrow and the hurt from his long lonely years. Unable to stop herself, she reached out and placed a hand on his cheek, "You need someone to look out for you."

He stared at her for a moment before reaching up to pull her hand away from his face, gently. He didn't let go though, just stood there, holding it, as he looked at her, his thumb lightly caressing her knuckles.

She smiled softly at him, nodding once before lightly pulling her hand from his and going to unpack. He watched her as she pulled something from her bag, looking at it before she strapped it to her wrist.

"What's that?" he frowned, walking over to her and taking her hand in his only to see a Vortex Manipulator.

"Jack gave it to me," she shrugged, "He said it's always good to have a backup. A sentiment I share."

The Doctor paused in thought, "For once, he's right but…" he took out the sonic and quickly flashed it across the Manipulator, "Now…it'll take you back to Jack and only that. If anything happens, at least I know you'll be able to make it out," and with that, he walked off.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww, the Doctor couldn't let her go :) There's a tiny bit more to the Doctor calling out for Evy and reaching for her than it appears in this chapter. Which we'll find out in the next four. I have to say, Human Nature and The Family of Blood I LOVED writing, I can't wait! What will happen with a suspicious Martha and a human Doctor? I guess we'll find out soon :)
> 
> Next chapter we're finally going to learn exactly what the Link, the good and bad, is about as well as a few more of Evy's reasons for not telling the Doctor she's a Time Lady :)


	10. Human Nature (Part 1)

_The console of the TARDIS was sparking like mad as Martha and the Doctor ran in through the main doors. Martha seemed to be struggling, fighting the Doctor as he half threw her into the room._

" _But we can't just leave her!" she shouted._

_The Doctor turned to the door, about to shut it, when he saw a green blast racing towards him. He threw himself to the ground as it struck something behind him, jumping up to shut the door. He ran to Martha's side, helping her up and grabbing her shoulders._

" _Did they see you?" he demanded urgently._

" _I don't know!"_

" _Did they see you?"_

" _I don't know," she shook her head, "I was too busy running!"_

" _Martha, it's important, did they see your face?" he shook her._

" _No, they couldn't have!" she said finally._

_He let go of her and ran around the console flipping some switches and working the controls, "Off we go!"_

" _But Doctor!" Martha ran to him, "What about…"_

" _She's fine! She's safe."_

" _But the Family!" she shook her head, "They grabbed her and…"_

" _She had Jack's Vortex Manipulator," he replied quickly, inputting some coordinates, "I rigged it to send her back to him. She's gone."_

" _But…"_

" _We'll find her again when it's safe and then you're going to remind me to take it away from her!" he shouted, turning back as a warning beep rang out, "Ah!" he grabbed the console screen in frustration, "They're following us."_

" _How can they do that, you've got a time machine?" Martha cried as he ran around the console._

" _Stolen technology, they've got a Time Agent's Vortex Manipulator too. They can follow us wherever we go, right across the Universe…" he paused in thought, realizing something, "They're never going to stop," he ran a hand through his hair nervously and stared at the console when an idea came to him, "Unless...I'll have to do it..." he muttered quietly. He turned to Martha, staring into her eyes, "Martha, you trust me don't you?"_

" _Of course I do," she replied instantly._

"' _Cos it all depends on you," he dove behind the console and pulled something out._

" _What does? What am I supposed to do?"_

_He reappeared, holding a pocket watch with an ornate design on the back, "Take this watch, 'cos my life depends on it. The watch, Martha…the watch is…"_

His eyes snapped open as he sat up in bed, his blue, pinstripe pajamas just a bit wrinkled from his nightmare. He blinked a few times, looking around the Victorian room for a few seconds before pushing himself up to sit. He turned, placing his feet on the floor, rubbing his eyes as there was a knock on the door followed by the door opening.

"Come in!" he called, rolling his eyes as it had opened before he called out.

Martha entered the room, dressed in a traditional maid's uniform, carrying a tray with breakfast. When she saw him sitting in bed, still in his pajamas, she turned back, "Pardon me, Mr. Smith, you're not dressed yet. I can come back later…"

"No, it's alright," he called, getting up and pulling on a dressing gown, "It's alright, put it down," she walked over to the table in the middle of the room and set the tray down, keeping her eyes lowered as he watched her thoughtfully, "I was, um..." he paused, "Sorry, sorry. Sometimes I have these extraordinary dreams…"

"What about, sir?" she asked, crossing the room to pull the curtains by the windows open, letting sunlight into the room.

"I dream I'm this..." he looked for the right word, "Adventurer. This...daredevil, a madman. 'The Doctor,' I'm called. And last night I dreamt that you were there, as my...companion."

"A teacher and a housemaid, sir?" she asked, crossing back to the tray on the table, knowing he'd been watching her the whole time, "That's impossible."

"Well…there  _was_  someone else…" he trailed.

"Was there?" she asked, glancing at him.

He nodded, still lost in thought, "Another woman I believe, but she was captured by someone."

"Was she alright?" she spread some jam on a piece of bread.

"Yes, I think so," he said after a moment, "I seemed to think she was safe," he sighed, smiling in thought of how he had been in the dream, "A man from another world, though..."

"Well it can't be true because there's no such thing."

He walked to the fireplace and looked over at the mantel, at an ornate pocket watch sitting on the ledge, "This thing..." he picked it up, "The watch..." Martha looked up, watching him hopefully, but her spirit fell when he put the watch down with a sigh, "Ah, it's funny how dreams slip away," he turned around to Martha, smiling, "But I do remember one thing, it all took place in the future. In the year of our Lord 2007."

"I can prove that wrong for you sir, here's the morning paper," she returned his smile and handed him the paper, "It's Monday, November 10th, 1913, and you're completely human, sir. As human as they come."

"Mmm, that's me," he smiled, looking down at the paper, "Completely human."

As soon as his gaze was lowered Martha frowned, she was really wishing Evy was here right now…she just knew the woman would know what to do, how to handle the situation, how to help…

~8~

Martha frowned as she scrubbed the floor of the school with her maid friend Jenny. She'd been there two months with the Doctor, who now thought himself to be a human named John Smith. She'd been keeping an eye on him as they tried to outlive the Family, a group of aliens, that he'd told her were after him. But it was hard. He was  _so_  different from how he'd been. It was unnerving. And she was in this completely alone. The Doctor was locked in a fob watch, the TARDIS had been shut down, and Evy was stuck in the 21st century. Martha often found herself praying that her friend would find a way to get back to them, she wouldn't put it past Evy to succeed as the Doctor had said he'd done something to a Vortex Manipulator she had and if anyone could figure out a way to reverse it and get back it would be Evy. She really could use some help with all this. She thought the Doctor had done too good a job with his cover story and hiding the watch with a Perception Filter, she couldn't imagine him opening it or even how to get him to do so.

Evy would know.

But Evy wasn't there.

Just then her thoughts were cut off by the Doctor, no, John Smith, walking past, mumbling a bit to himself as he did so.

"Morning sir!" she called.

He glanced over at her, "Yes, hi," he replied before heading up the stairs. Martha could just make out him mumbling something about polarity reversal and hypersonic sound waves, as though he were trying to recall where he'd heard it from.

"Head in the clouds, that one," Jenny commented, "Don't know why you're so sweet on him."

She gave her a small smile before they continued on scrubbing, "He's just kind to me, that's all. Not everyone's that considerate, what with me being…" she gestured to her face, clearly indicating the color of her skin.

Jenny just smiled, "A Londoner?"

"Exactly," Martha laughed, "Good old London Town!"

Two senior boys walked by just then, Baines and Hutchinson, and stopped a few feet away to laugh at the maids.

"Ah, now then, you two," Baines said, they stopped laughing and looked up at him, "You're not paid to have fun, are you? Put a little backbone into it."

"Yes sir," Jenny looked down while Martha remained defiant, "Sorry, sir."

"You there, what's your name again?" Hutchinson looked at Martha.

"Martha, sir," she answered, "Martha Jones."

"Tell me then, Jones," Hutchinson smirked, "With hands like those, how can you tell when something's clean?"

The two boys laughed cruelly, about to leave, when another voice spoke up, "How  _dare_  you!"

Martha's eyes widened as she turned her head to see Evy standing there, and boy did she look mad. She had her hands on her hips and was glaring at the two boys with a look that would have frozen the sun.

The two boys' laughter died in their throats as their mouths dropped open, "Now see here…" Baines began.

"Apologize," Evy cut in, staring at Hutchinson.

"Excuse me?" Hutchinson blanched.

"No I will not excuse that sort of behavior. Now apologize to Martha this instant."

The boys laughed again, this time more in amusement. Baines shot her a condescending look, "I don't think you understand how it works here miss. Women…"

Their words were cut off as Evy stormed over to Hutchinson and grabbed his ear, "Ow!" he shouted, "Let go of me."

"Unhand him!" Baines added, reaching out to grab her. Evy twisted to face him, pulling poor Hutchinson with her.

"You lay a hand on me," she glowered at him, "And you will find yourself missing an arm."

She'd always had a bit of a temper to her.

Baines quickly stepped back, more than a little startled at the force of her threat, "Now," she turned back to the boy she still had a grip on, speaking perfectly calm and polite, "I am old enough to be your mother, don't make me spank you," she grinned, twisting his ear just a bit, "Apologize. Now."

"Uh…sorry," Hutchinson looked at Martha, seeming for all the world as though he were about to wet himself, "Sorry."

Martha nodded her head in acceptance as Evy released the boy, who took off down the hall with Baines.

"Evy!" Martha shouted, getting up and rushing to hug the woman.

"It's good to see you Martha," she smiled, hugging her back.

"That a friend of yours Martha?" Jenny asked from the floor.

"Oh!" Martha spun around, forgetting where she was for a moment, "Yeah, this is Evy. Evy this is Jenny," she tuned to look at her time travel friend, "Have you been with Jack the last two months?"

"Two  _months_?" Evy's eyes widened, "You've been here  _two months_?"

Jenny laughed, "Martha why don't you go catch up with your friend, I'll finish here."

"Are you sure?" Martha frowned, they were almost done, but she still felt bad just leaving. But Jenny nodded and made a shooing motion so Martha took Evy's arm and led her off.

"What are you wearing?" Evy asked once they turned the corner, looking down at the maid's outfit.

"Not much else a woman of my color can do in 1913," she sighed, before glancing at her, "What about you? And how did you get back?"

Evy looked down at her dress, "I have no idea," she replied, before pulling a small wrist device out of a pocket on her dress to show her, "I managed to locate the TARDIS's presence to here just before it disappeared and rigged Jack's Vortex Manipulator to get me back here…must have had more leeway than I thought," she muttered, putting the device back, "I was hoping for two weeks at the most…"

Martha laughed, "And the clothes? How did you swing that?'

She picked up her skirt to reveal her jeans underneath, "I sort of snagged these off a clothing line somewhere in town…sort of obvious we're not in the 21st century isn't it?" Evy was quiet a moment, looking around, "Martha," she leaned in whispering, "Where's the Doctor? The Family hasn't found him have they?"

Martha frowned, "No, we got out in time but um…he's sort of…he's..."

"He's made himself human, hasn't he? He's used the Chameleon Arch?" Evy rubbed her head, muttering to herself, "Stupid."

Martha stopped walking, forcing Evy to stop as well. She turned to see Martha staring at her suspiciously before pulling her into an empty room, "How do you know that?"

"I…" Evy began but clearly Martha wasn't done.

"You always seem to know things," Martha stared at her, "Like…how to use the sonic or DNA splicing or making scanners or how to freeze a killer star out of someone or...or which button to push on the TARDIS…"

"…you noticed that?"

Martha nodded, "And now…you know about the Chameleon Arch, but the Doctor didn't say  _anything_  about it till  _after_  you'd gone…so how did you know? How do you always know?" Evy was silent for a moment, "Evy please…" Martha began softly, letting go of her grip on Evy's arm to squeeze her hand, "If it's something you don't want the Doctor to know I swear I won't tell him, but please, tell  _me_. I'm your friend, aren't I?"

Evy sighed, nodding, and went to sit down on a chair, "I know that the Doctor used the Chameleon Arch because that's the only way to turn a Time Lord into another species, like a human, and I know he made himself human because…" she took a breath, "Because I couldn't hear him anymore."

"What?" Martha frowned, sitting across from her.

"Time Lords possess the ability to sense each other and, to an extent, read each other's minds," she explained, "I can't hear him because he changed his brainwave pattern to fit something of a human configuration."

"Wait…" Martha blinked, realizing something, " _Time Lords_  can read each other's minds…" Evy nodded, "So…that means you're…you're a Time Lord, aren't you? Like the Doctor?"

"Time Lady actually," she corrected mildly.

Martha shook her head, wanting to know how that was possible with the war that had happened, how she was there, how she survived, why the Doctor didn't notice, why she hadn't told him, but she needed to gather her thoughts. She didn't want to be jumping all over the place. She looked at Evy, choosing to focus on the whole mind reading thing for now, what she was sure would be one of the simpler topic to come up, "But…what if he just…I don't know...was blocking his thoughts or something? How did you know it was because he was human?"

Evy bit her lip, she had been hoping Martha wouldn't think of that. She looked down, "The Doctor doesn't know I'm a Time Lady, so he doesn't know to block his thoughts from me…"

"But he could have just as easily been dead," Martha argued, sensing there was something else, "You said the TARDIS disappeared and you couldn't get a reading off of it anymore, it could have been destroyed and…"

"Because I knew he was alive," she cut in, even in speech she didn't like to think of the Doctor dying.

"How?" Martha frowned.

Evy blinked, trying to keep the tears from appearing, "I…can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?" she looked at Evy but the woman hesitated. So she reached out, taking her hand, "I promise, I won't be mad, I swear it, but please, tell me. No more secrets Evy."

Evy was silent a moment, before nodding, "I could feel him through our Link."

"Link?"

Evy nodded, "On Gallifrey there is a phenomenon called Linking where we bond with one other person who is…I guess…perfectly matched to us in some way. A Link can go any number of ways though, platonic, rivalry, nothing at all...romantic..."

"You're Linked to the Doctor?" Martha frowned, "Romantically, aren't you?"

It didn't take a genius to work that out now that it was out in the open. Martha had seen it, the way Evy acted around the Doctor, protecting him. She'd seen the soft look in the girl's eyes when she thought the Doctor wasn't looking. And the hesitancy she had in admitting that last direction a Link could go. She could understand though, this was  _the Doctor_. She loved him and she was only a human. To imagine being a Time Lady, probably the last Time Lady...Evy was a goner before the Link even happened.

"To be a Time Lord is to have mastery and understanding over time itself," Evy explained, squeezing Martha's hand, but not exactly answering the woman's last question, "We can live forever, barring accidents, and if we happen to get injured too seriously or our bodies begin to fail, we regenerate…we change into entirely different people. New face, new personality, new habits, new everything."

"So you're immortal then?"

Evy nodded again, "It's difficult to tell how we're going to be once we've regenerated, we're usually different than how we were. Some similarities, but mostly different people. There are theories that there is a part of our consciousness that transcends time and space, that connects with another consciousness that matches it, the Linking of the two unites a Time Lord and Lady forever. It means that no matter how greatly we change the Link assures us that the person we're Linked to will still be compatible to us, understand us and be able to handle us. Your Link is the one person in the Universe who has the capacity to love, understand, and care for each and every incarnation we go through."

Evy took a breath, "I Linked to the Doctor on Gallifrey, before he went off to explore the Universe and  _long_  before the war…" she trailed a moment, thinking of the time gone by, "I've been Linked to him..." she let out a breath, "More than 600 years."

"Oh my God," Martha breathed, her eyes wide, "Why didn't the Doctor say anything?"

"I may be Linked to him Martha, but he hasn't Linked to me yet."

"And that means…" Martha frowned. Evy's words...her voice...there was pain in it. And she realized. Evy was Linked to the Doctor and loved him. But if the Doctor wasn't Linked to her...he might not love her back...that had to hurt terribly...

"It means that, I can feel him," she put Martha's hand in the middle of her chest so she could feel her hearts beating, "I can sense what he's feeling, when he's happy, sad, hurt…"

"Like on the ship," Martha nodded slowly, thinking back to the suspicious behavior Evy had exhibited then, "You were shaking and then you screamed when he did in the stasis chamber."

Evy nodded, "I can hear him in my head. What he's thinking, what he's planning, what he's hearing," she smiled at Martha, "I knew who you were before I even met you because I could hear your conversations with him."

Martha frowned, "And he doesn't know you're his Link," Evy nodded, "But wait…if Time Lords can sense each other…why doesn't the Doctor seem to know? Yeah," she nodded, "It's like…every time you do something amazing he just forgets it ever happened…shouldn't that tip him off about you being like him?"

"It's the Filter," she fiddled with her small hourglass necklace, showing it to Martha specifically so she would notice it, "It's called a Perception Filter, like the one on the watch. This one is working at half power though to hide itself."

"So the Doctor doesn't notice you wearing it."

"Exactly. As soon as something happens that makes him think, even for a second, that I'm not just some human from the 51st century like Jack and I told him, if it's a small enough detail, his mind shrugs the thought off and pushes it to the back of his mind. And since he doesn't believe any of our people survived, he hasn't exactly been noticing much."

Martha was silent, finally knowing enough of the truth about Evy. There was still so much she wanted to ask, what happened during the war, why she wasn't telling the Doctor, why she clearly didn't want him to know about her but...already, what she now knew, it was a lot to take in. She didn't think she could handle much more so far. She had to think about this a bit more.

She looked down at the floor, growing lost in thought. She'd had a thought, once, that maybe, if she stuck around long enough, the Doctor might feel something for her like she did for him…but that thought had already started fading, it had been for two months now. This morning wasn't the first time John Smith had dreamed he was the Doctor…but it  _was_  the first time he'd included Martha Jones in them. Almost every time before that he would wake up and tell her about a girl being burned by a star or a girl altering a white box or a girl disappearing in a flash of light just barely escaping a flash of green. There had been a nightmare or two along the way, Martha running into the room to the sound of John calling out for Evy, though seeming to forget her name after she woke him. She'd thought it was because of her nearly dying on their last adventure or some remnant from his transformation that just didn't make it into his John Smith story.

But it didn't explain his mumblings. Throughout the day, he'd walk around, lost in thought, mumbling something here or there. What little Martha could catch always reminded her of something Evy had said or explained. Just last week John had been mumbling about Happy Primes. Again, she'd thought it was the fact that Evy wasn't there and the Doctor part of John was sensing it…but now…now maybe it wasn't his memories calling out for her, maybe it was just him wanting her back.

She knew he was a Time Lord, he'd told her so, but he'd never mentioned the living forever part or the regenerations, as Evy called them. Now that she had all the important facts the logical part of her mind started to kick in.

She was human, he was not.

He could live forever, she could not.

He might become a person she hated the next time he died, she might be someone he hated when he changed.

When he changed, he wouldn't be the person she thought she loved anymore.

But she did know he was her friend at the very least. She wanted him to be happy, she didn't want him to be in pain or lonely like she'd seen in his eyes so often. And Evy could do it. She could heal him, make him happy, be there for him, love him. Evy was the one person in the Universe that could stay with him despite his changes, the one person he would love despite hers. And she knew the Doctor had to love Evy in a way. His subconsious wouldn't be plaguing him as it had if he didn't have some sort of feelings for her. She doubted Evy could see it, she was so focused on having the Doctor not notice her for some reason (she would have to find out about that later) that she probably didn't notice when he  _did_  notice her. But she could see it, at the very least, he cared a great deal about her, Link or no. She would also have to ask some more about what a Link was, exactly what it meant beyound a simple 'other half' so to speak. But that could wait, for now. She'd learned quite a lot that she would still need to process.

"Martha?" she heard Evy say after a while of silence.

She looked up at the Time Lady sitting across from her. Maybe it had been the Perception Filter, but she had never noticed the same tiredness and pain in her eyes as the Doctor's, which she saw clearly now. They needed each other, she and the Doctor. They really did. They were the last of their kind, if anyone could understand the other's pain, it would be them.

And that was when she made a decision which she could already feel lifting her heart, she was going to help them be together, no matter what. Evy must have had reasons for not telling the Doctor she was a Time Lady and she would respect that, she'd already gotten enough out of the woman for now. She would keep her promise, she wouldn't tell the Doctor, but it wouldn't stop her from trying to nudge them together despite the Filter. She could already see him leaning towards Evy, he'd always been drawn to her despite the Filter but he needed just a bit more help.

Martha smiled, squeezing her friend's hand, "I understand and I'm not mad."

"You're not?" Evy frowned, that was not what she was expecting.

"No," she shook her head, "Actually, I'm a bit relieved, I'm glad you told me this now, before I ended pining after him for too long."

A small smile grew on Evy's face as she stood up and pulled Martha into a hug, "Thank you."

"No, thank you," she replied, hugging her back.

"Now," Evy pulled away, "Let's go find the Doctor, knowing him he's bound to have gotten himself into some sort of trouble."

Martha laughed, leading her towards the door, "Actually John Smith, his human name by the way, is actually a fairly cautious person, no trouble at all to keep after."

"Martha!" Jenny called, spotting them down the hall and running over, "Mr. Smith's been hurt."

"You were saying?" Evy asked quietly to Martha.

"What happened?" Martha turned to Jenny.

"He fell down some stairs," Jenny answered, "The Matron's looking after him now."

"Thank you Jenny," Martha nodded to her friend before grabbing Evy's arm and pulling her down the way.

~8~

They had run through the halls to John's study, Martha filling Evy in on the new Doctor just to give her a fair warning when they came to his hallway.

"Because it hurts!" they could hear him reply sulkily to something.

"You sure he's not something like the Doctor?" Evy grinned at Martha before Martha ran through the door.

"Is he alright?" she shouted in concern, Evy stepping in with her.

"Excuse me, Martha," a woman standing behind the Doctor said, looking at Martha, clearly she was the matron Jenny had mentioned, "It's hardly good form to enter a master's study without knocking."

Evy spared a glance to the woman before her attention drifted to the Doctor, no, John Smith, who had seemed to notice her standing there, despite the chaos, and was staring at her. She shifted a bit under his gaze.

"Sorry, right, yeah," Martha mumbled, annoyed, before running back to the door, knocking on it and returning to where she'd been, already halfway into the room, "They said you fell down the stairs, sir."

"No, it was just a...tumble, that's all," he mumbled, a bit distracted as he stared at the woman next to Martha. She was quite beautiful in his opinion. He had very green eyes he could see from across the room, and warm brown hair pulled back in what appeared to be a half-up/half-down style. He couldn't stop himself from giving her a quick look. The dress she was wearing was deep green, empire waist, belted with a black belt, with three-quarter length sleeves trimmed in black, a box neckline. The dark green of the skirt stopped around her knees, but continued to the sides like a point, a lighter green fabric visible going down to the floor. It seemed to be just a bit too big for her, but he was not in any position to complain…which reminded him that he was currently ogling this woman and pulled his gaze away.

"Have you checked for concussion?" Martha asked the matron.

"I have," she gave Martha a cold look, "And I daresay I know a lot more about it than you."

"Oh I doubt that," Evy remarked, stepping to Martha's side and linking her arm with the maid, "Martha's seen plenty of injuries of the sort given the way my brothers roughhoused."

"I'm sorry and you are?" the matron gazed at her questioningly.

"What are you doing?" Martha leaned over and hissed.

"Making it up as I go," Evy replied quietly before looking back, "Sorry, how rude, I'm Evelyn Daniels," she stepped up to shake her hand and then John's.

"How do you know Martha?" John frowned, puzzled, he knew Martha had travelled with him, left by his family, but he never recalled seeing this woman before.

"She was my previous employer," Martha stepped up, going with it. She knew the story the Doctor had fed himself wasn't exactly stable on her part of it, but she could solidify it a bit by giving herself more of a background.

"Yes," Evy nodded, picking up on the story, "Before I went to university Martha was my personal maid."

Martha nodded, "After she left I was recommended to your family Mr. Smith and taken in."

John nodded, "I hope you didn't give her family half as many problems as you give me?"

Martha bowed her head, recalling she was supposed to be the maid, "Sorry. I'll just..." she looked around the room and walked off, "Tidy your things."

John nodded, glancing at Evy, "Please have a seat Ms. Daniels," he motioned for a chair across from him. Evy nodded and took a seat as John smiled at her, "I was just telling Nurse Redfern…Matron, um, about my dreams. They are quite remarkable tales."

Evy glanced at Martha who was looking up in interest, "Oh, what about?" she asked.

"I keep imagining that I'm someone else, and that I'm hiding…"

"Hiding?" Evy tilted her head, "In what way?"

"Um...er...almost every night..." he laughed, now looking more at Evy, more talking to her than telling his dreams to the matron, "This is going to sound silly…"

"Sometimes silly can be brilliant," Evy smiled, "Tell me."

"I dream, quite often, that I have two hearts."

"Well then," Nurse Redfern cut in, turning to a doctor's bag beside her, "I can be the judge of that."

She pulled out a stethoscope and walked towards John, leaning over a bit as she tested him. Martha glanced at Evy who had placed a hand unconsciously on her right heart when he'd said that. Redfern smiled as she stepped back, taking the scope off, "I can confirm the diagnosis, just one heart, singular."

Both Evy and Martha looked a bit disappointed but John just laughed at his silliness, "I have written down some of these dreams in the form of fiction...um...not that it would be of any interest…" he muttered, glancing at Evy.

"I'd be very interested," Redfern called, drawing his attention back. He stared at her questioningly as she nodded. He smiled and walked over to his desk, picking up a leather bound, black journal.

"Well...I've never shown it to anyone before," he muttered, handing it over to her.

"'Journal of Impossible Things,'" she read the first page.

Evy stood up and walked over, standing on the other side of her while she looked on as the nurse turned the pages. She smiled softly as she saw the pages covered with writing and sketches, the console of the TARDIS, the monitor screens, one of the gas-masked victims of the nanogenes…

"Just look at these creatures!" Redfern exclaimed, turning the page to reveal a Dalek, Evy's smile faded slightly.

"Such imagination," she commented, if a bit strained.

"Mmm," he hummed in agreement, "It's become quite a hobby."

There were more and more pages, Moxx of Balhoon, two Automatons, the clockwork robots of Madame de Pompadour's age.

"It's wonderful," Redfern turned a page, laughing, "And quite an eye for the pretty girls."

In the center was a sketch of Rose.

"Oh no, no, she's just an invention," he replied, "This character, Rose, I call her, Rose…"

Martha looked up to see Evy's smile was entirely gone as she stared at the page. For the first time she realized how hard it had to be for Evy to know that the one man she could love forever in all the Universe might well be in love with someone else. And  _she_  had thought Rose was a rival…poor Evy…

"Seems to disappear later on…" he added thoughtfully.

"And who's this?" Redfern asked, turning the page to reveal what seemed to be a sketch of a woman, but without a face.

"Oh um…" he frowned, "Not sure…I dream about her, I think that I travelled with her, but I can never seem to recall her face. When I think about her, it's hazy at best."

Evy looked over at Martha who glanced down at Evy's Filter questioningly. She nodded, the sketch was of her and the lack of face was due to the Filter. Joan turned the page.

Then there were Cybermen, some sketches of the TARDIS.

"Ah, that's the box, the blue box, it's always there," he smiled, pointing at it, "Like a...magic carpet. This funny little box that transports me to faraway places."

"Like a doorway?" Evy smiled.

"Mmm," he stared across the book to her for a moment before looking down where there was a mess of various faces, of about 10 men.

"I sometimes think how magical life would be if things like this were true," he remarked wistfully.

"If only," Evy agreed, sadly.

"It's just a dream," he gave a short quiet laugh as Redfern turned to the next page with a watch sketched on it.

Just then a school bell sounded, signaling for the students to head to classes.

"Would you mind, Mr. Smith," Redfern looked up at him, shutting the book, "If I borrow this? It's a very wonderful book, I think I should enjoy reading it."

"Oh, of course!" John exclaimed, closing her hand around the book.

"Thank you," she smiled before leaving the room.

John turned to Evy, smiling, "Now, Ms. Daniels, are you staying in town long?"

Evy returned the smile, nodding, "I was only going to stay a few days but if Martha is here I shall have to stay longer. I have not seen her in what feels like ages. I'm sure we have much to catch up on."

He nodded, "Have you somewhere to stay?"

"Oh, I'm sure I can find an inn somewhere…"

He shook his head, "No, no, I'll have Martha prepare a room for you here."

"Oh, no, I couldn't…" she began, but Martha cut her off.

"I'll prepare a room right away," she exclaimed, smiling brightly before rushing out of the room.

"Martha!" Evy called after her.

John laughed, "I see she did indeed cause you just as many problems as me."

"She wouldn't be Martha if she didn't," Evy replied, laughing as well.

"You said you went to university?" he asked as their laughter died down.

"Yes," she nodded.

"What for? Which subjects?"

"History," she said quickly, it was the first thing that came to her.

"Oh, which sort? Ancient? Modern? European? American?"

She smiled and shook her head, "I couldn't ever choose just one Mr. Smith…"

"John," he corrected her quickly, it felt  _wrong_  for her to be so formal with him…even though he'd just met her, he couldn't shake the feeling that he _knew_  her from somewhere, like she was an old friend he'd forgotten.

It was comforting.

"And it's Evy to you," she agreed, earning another laugh from him.

"Well then, Ms. Evy," he grinned at her, holding out an arm for her to take, "As I am a professor of history in this institute, would you like to accompany me to my class? Perhaps sit in and observe?"

"I would love to Mr. John," she teased.

~8~

Martha and Evy had gone to the pub that night, having been invited by Jenny. Though they seemed to arrive just as John had and he'd invited Evy to join him inside. She'd politely declined the initiation, stating that she'd come with Martha, but Martha had just shushed her, much to John's amusement, and pushed her towards him saying she and Jenny would be just fine. Evy had given her a curious look at her eagerness for her to leave with John but now couldn't refuse his invitation.

She felt almost guilty for enjoying her time with him in the pub. She'd spent most of the day with him, walking to classes, talking about history and just anything else that popped into her head. She found she almost needed the talks they had. She couldn't hear him in her mind anymore, his brain operating on a different wavelength than hers. She could concentrate and shift hers enough to hear him, but it took a lot of concentration and she needed to be focused. If he and Martha had been there two months then the Family would be getting desperate to find them.

She'd almost forgotten about them a few times due to this John Smith character. He provided her with the most excellent conversations and there was hardly a lag in their talks or an awkward silence. She'd felt like she'd been neglecting Martha a bit which was why she had been reluctant to go to the pub with him. But he seemed to sense this and kept it to one drink inside to allow her time to still sit with Martha and Jenny later.

He smiled as he escorted her outside, actually willing to sit with the two maids in the cold if it would allow him more time with the woman who had so captured his attention. He had never felt quite this way before, so enraptured by another person, a woman. She was quite lovely, he'd noticed first, but her mind...she provided the most excellent discussions and debates, always keeping him on his toes with a fresh perspective to look at. She was witty and clever and passionate. He'd never met another like her. He just couldn't seem to get enough time with her to satisfy him.

They stepped outside only to see the matron, Martha, and Jenny standing there, staring at the sky, "Anything wrong, ladies?" he asked, walking over to them as Evy ran to Martha's side in concern, "Far too cold to be standing around in the dark, don't you…"

"There!" Redfern interrupted, pointing to the sky where a green light flew overhead like a sick shooting star, "There, look in the sky!" she looked to her side to see John standing near Evy and staring up. She frowned a bit, she'd heard that John had gone to the pub that night and had hoped to run into him, but seeing that he was with Martha's friend put a damper on her spirits.

"That's beautiful," Jenny commented, pulling the nurse's attention back to the fading light.

"Martha…" Evy said quietly, leaning towards her friend, "That light…"

"Commonly known as a meteorite," John was saying, "It's just rocks falling to the ground, that's all."

"It's them, isn't it?" Martha asked in fear.

"It came down in the woods," Redfern squinted, looking through the trees, trying to spot something.

"It might be," Evy replied, nodding.

"No, no, no, they always look close, when actually they're miles off," John shook his head, turning to face them, not noticing Evy and Martha straighten out, "Nothing left but a cinder," he glanced around, looking at Evy and the matron, "Now, I should escort you back to the school," he informed them, before looking over at Martha and Jenny, "Ladies?"

"No, we're fine, thanks," Martha replied, still staring at the sky.

"Martha…" Evy began, but Martha shook her head.

"Then I shall bid you goodnight," John smiled, turning to head off towards the school, Redfern following along.

"You have to keep an eye on him," Martha whispered quickly, seeing John stopping and about to turn around, "I'll check it out."

"Martha, no," Evy shook her head.

"Evy?" John called, "Everything alright?"

"Just fine sir," Martha answered for her, nudging her friend forward, "Just saying good night is all."

He nodded, waiting for Evy to catch up to them before walking off again, not seeing her throwing looks back to Martha over her shoulder.

~8~

Martha had gone straight to Evy's rooms when she got back to find the woman awake and waiting for her in concern. She'd told Evy about going into the woods but seeing nothing. Evy had frowned, saying the ship the Family came in must have had some sort of cloaking mechanism on it to make it invisible to the human eye. Evy suggested there might be something on the TARDIS that could help them track the ship down.

The next morning she and Martha were riding through the woods towards an old stone barn on two bicycles they'd borrowed from the school. Martha nodded over to the barn, slowing down and getting off the bike, placing it against the wall as Evy followed suit. Martha sent her a smile as she pushed the door open, revealing the TARDIS standing further inside the barn. She stepped back, allowing Evy to enter and walk over to the large blue box. She watched curiously as Evy ran a gentle finger along the lock, her eyes widening as a familiar click was heard.

"How'd you do that?" she asked, stepping up to Evy as she opened the door to the TARDIS, "Even the Doctor needs a key."

Evy just smiled and shrugged, "The TARDIS likes me better."

Martha shook her head and laughed as they stepped through the door into the darkened room.

"Hello," Evy greeted the machine.

"Talking to a machine?" Martha raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Oh, she likes that," she replied, looking around the room, "Don't you?"

There was a very soft hum, so soft Martha almost thought she'd imagined it.

They walked up the ramp to the console, Evy laying her hands flat on it and closing her eyes while Martha walked around it to the other side, frowning when she saw Evy standing there, "What are you doing?"

"She's showing me what happened when I left," Evy answered, tapping into the psychic connection a TARDIS had with their people.

"She?" Martha asked, "You mean the TARDIS?"

Evy just nodded and scrunched her face as the events of two months ago flowed through her mind...

_The console of the TARDIS was sparking like mad as Martha and the Doctor ran in through the main door. Martha seemed to be struggling, fighting the Doctor as he half threw her into the room._

" _But we can't just leave her!" she shouted._

_The Doctor turned to the door, about to shut it, when he saw a green blast racing towards him. He threw himself to the ground as it struck something behind him, jumping up to shut the door. He ran to Martha's side helping her up and grabbing her shoulders._

" _Did they see you?" he demanded urgently._

" _I don't know!"_

" _Did they see you?"_

" _I don't know," she shook her head, "I was too busy running!"_

" _Martha, it's important, did they see your face?" he shook her._

" _No, they couldn't have!" she said finally._

_He let go of her and ran around the console flipping some switches and working the controls, "Off we go!"_

" _But Doctor!" Martha ran to him, "What about…"_

" _She's fine! She's safe."_

" _But the Family!" she shook her head, "They grabbed her and…"_

" _She had Jack's Vortex Manipulator," he replied quickly, inputting some coordinates, "I rigged it to send her back to him. She's gone."_

" _But…"_

" _We'll find her again when it's safe and then you're going to remind me to take it away from her!" he shouted, turning back as a warning beep rang out, "Ah!" he grabbed the console screen in frustration, "They're following us."_

" _How can they do that, you've got a time machine?" Martha cried as he ran around the console._

" _Stolen technology, they've got a Time Agent's Vortex Manipulator too. They can follow us wherever we go, right across the Universe…" he paused in thought, realizing something, "They're never going to stop," he ran a hand through his hair nervously and stared at the console when an idea came to him, "Unless...I'll have to do it..." he muttered quietly. He turned to Martha staring into her eyes, "Martha, you trust me don't you?"_

" _Of course I do," she replied instantly._

"' _Cos it all depends on you," he dove behind the console and pulled something out._

" _What does? What am I supposed to do?"_

_He reappeared holding a pocket watch with an ornate design on the back, "Take this watch, 'cos my life depends on it. The watch, Martha…the watch is me."_

_Martha nodded, though clearly confused, "Right, okay, gotcha..." she shook her head, rushing around the console after him, "No, hold on! Completely lost!"_

_"Those creatures are hunters," he told her, still focused on the controls, "They can sniff out anyone and me being a Time Lord, well, I'm unique. They can track me down across the whole of time and space."_

" _And the good news is?" she laughed hopelessly._

" _They can smell me, they haven't seen me. And their life's bound to be running out so, we hide, wait for them to die."_

" _But they can track us down!"_

_He finally stopped what he was doing and turned to face her, almost as serious as he had been when Evy absorbed the star, "That's why I've got to do it. I have to stop being a Time Lord. I'm gonna become human," he hit a switch and a headset lowered from the ceiling. He ran over to it, "Never thought I'd use this. All the times I've wondered…"_

" _What does it do?" she frowned._

" _Chameleon Arch," he said, fiddling with some wires, "Rewrite my biology. Literally changes every single cell in my body. I've set it to human," he took the pocket watch and fit it into a section of the headset, "Now, the TARDIS will take care of everything. Invent a life story for me, find me a setting and integrate me. Can't do the same for you...you'll just have to improvise. I should have just enough residual awareness to let you in."_

" _What about Evy?" she asked._

" _Evy's not here. She won't be able to get back till we go get her."_

" _But...hold on, if you're going to rewrite every single cell, isn't it going to hurt?"_

" _Oh yeah," he nodded grimly, "It hurts."_

Evy pulled her hands away from the TARDIS, not wanting to relive the pain again. She'd felt it already, nearly given Jack and Tosh a heart attack when she'd started screaming in the middle of trying to fix the Vortex Manipulator and ended up convulsing on the floor. Jack had  _not_  been happy that she'd left out that little detail of the Link.

She took a breath and looked over at Martha, "He left some instructions yeah?"

Martha nodded, "Just bringing them up now."

She walked around the console to join her as a video of the Doctor appeared on the screen.

"This working?" he tapped the camera, "Martha, before I change here's a list of instructions for when I'm human. One, don't let me hurt anyone. We can't have that, but you know what humans are like. Two, don't worry about the TARDIS, I'll put it on emergency power so they can't detect it, just let it hide away. Four, no, wait a minute, three, no getting involved in big historical events. Four, you. Don't let me abandon you. And fi…"

Martha twisted a dial, speeding through the rest of his speech, "I've listened to it 1,000 times already, just more things to keep him from doing," she shook her head, "Something about not letting him eat pears…" she looked up to see Evy half gagging just at the mention of the evil fruit, "What? Is that like a Time Lord thing? You don't like pears?"

"No," she shook her head, "We  _hate_  pears."

"But what are we supposed to do if the Family crash lands?" Martha asked, getting back on topic, "What are we supposed to do then?" she let go of the dial on the last item the Doctor listed.

"And twenty three," he finished, "If anything goes wrong, if they find us Martha, then you know what to do. Open the watch. Everything I am is kept safe in there. Now, I've put a Perception Filter on it so the human me won't think anything of it, to him it's just a watch. But  _don't_  open it unless you have to. Because once it's open, then the Family will be able to find me. It's all down to you, Martha. Your choice," he walked off the screen for a moment before returning, "Oh, and thank you."

"What happens if they find you?" Martha looked at her friend, concerned. She was still a Time Lady, if the Family could smell one out...

"They won't."

"How can you be sure?"

Evy just held up the Filter again, "This is set more for aliens," she explained, "It's meant to keep them from noticing me as a Time Lord. It fools the mind into thinking I'm human. The mind is a powerful thing Martha. You can trick yourself into seeing something that isn't there, smelling things that aren't there as well."

Martha nodded, "It'll trick them into thinking they're not smelling a Time Lord."

She nodded too, "They're looking for the Doctor, a Time Lord, so they won't even think to sniff out a Time Lady. So that'll help the Filter keep working, keep me unnoticed by them as well," her gaze drifted to the now blank screen and she started to frown, "This isn't going to be easy though, keeping him safe."

"We'll figure something out," Martha reassured her.

"I just…" she trailed, "I wish he'd come back…it's so quiet…"

Martha frowned and hugged her friend from the side, "It'll be alright."

She smiled and turned to look at her, "Those are supposed to be my lines you know."

Martha laughed, "Seems we're all acting like other people today."

Evy opened her mouth to reply when she suddenly spun around to look at something over her shoulder.

"What is it?" Martha asked, "What's wrong?"

"Someone opened the watch!" Evy shouted, before racing out of the TARDIS, Martha following close behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there was probably a jumbled mess in trying to explain the Link to Martha, I didn't want to cram too much into one chapter/episode. It's a lot for a human to take in. She'll definitely be asking more questions about it as she starts to come to grips with it. She knows she doesn't know everything about the Link or why Evy's hiding it and what she is, so she'll definitely want to talk more. What she doesn't know will be explained to her eventually, she'll know almost everything by the end of Blink though and so will you.
> 
> I have to say though, now that our beloved companion is playing matchmaker...things will get much more interesting for our dear John Smith and Evelyn Daniels :)
> 
> As for the Family and how Evy is hiding from them, I think it's believable, the mind does play tricks on you, aliens and humans alike. It's simple too...which sort of explains why the Doctor didn't think of it. As Evy once said, he looks for complicated answers instead of simple solutions lol.


	11. Human Nature (Part 2)

Martha and Evy raced back to the school, Evy a bit concerned. The sensation of the Time Lord essence had only lasted a moment, most likely someone else had found the watch and opened it briefly. Certainly not John, she certainly would have sensed that. But it worried her that she didn't know who.

They half threw their bikes to the side as soon as they were near enough to the school, running in towards John's study. Evy stopped short, Martha almost crashing into her, as she looked above her, "It's not in his study," she told Martha, "Someone's taken the watch away."

Martha looked at the stairs then back to Evy, "Go," she said, pushing her to the stairs, "Go find them, I'll watch John, see if he's ok."

Evy nodded and raced up the stairs, whoever had the watch was keeping it open longer this time. She was afraid. The Family was there, that much was certain, if the watch remained open too long they'd be able to find it.

She nearly stumbled as images of the Daleks, Cybermen, Ood, the werewolf from Torchwood Manor, the Racnoss, Lazarus, and the Sycorax assailed her. Suddenly they were gone, the watch had been shut. She followed the remnants of the sensations she'd felt and crept slowly through the corridor finding a door slightly ajar.

There, sitting on a bed, alone in the dormitory, was a boy she recalled John calling Timothy in class, with the watch in his hand.

She was about to knock on the door and speak to him when a hand bell began to ring signaling a change of classes. Knowing the dormitory would soon be filled with children moving to change books and retire or head to class, she quickly made her way back to John's study as he was leaving for class.

He gave her a wide smile and tipped his hat to her as he passed. She nodded to him before half running into the study to see Martha searching the mantel for the watch.

"Timothy has it," Evy called, startling her a bit.

"Timothy Latimer?" Martha frowned.

She nodded, "The bell rang before I could talk to him and get it back."

Martha sighed, "He's in John's class this period, maybe we can catch him after?"

"It's as good a plan as we have right now," Evy shook her head, "What class is it again?"

~8~

To say she was shocked to see the Doctor, the man who abhorred violence, teaching children how to fire machine guns was an understatement. Martha had led her out the side of the building where they could observe the students during target practice and so they were just standing there off to the side, watching.

"I never thought I'd ever see him actually condoning the use of guns," Evy shook her head in thought, "He's so different."

"I know," Martha agreed, no matter how long she'd been there, working for John Smith, it still caught her by surprise how different he was to the Doctor.

They watched in silence as Nurse Redfern approached a small patio and watched the proceedings as well. The boys soon led Timothy off to a tent while John went to speak to the matron, most likely about his journal. They stiffened just a bit when the nurse walked away and he glanced over to see them standing there.

He smiled brightly and lifted a hand in greeting, though they both could tell it was directed towards Evy. Not wanting to be rude, she lifted her hand to give him a mock salute. He laughed at that before walking off to join the boys in the tent for evaluation.

"I've been wondering…" Martha began as they watched John lecturing the boys, "Why's he suddenly so smitten with you? I mean, I know it's got to have something to do with the Link right?" she hesitated when Evy didn't speak, "What exactly does the Link do? You've told me about the process of Linking, that you can read his mind and feel him...is that it though?"

Evy swallowed, "Those are the bright sides of the Link."

Martha frowned, "There's a down side then?"

She sighed, looking at her, "The Link creates an instant connection between Time Lord and Lady...a deep connection. One so deep that...to be without it..." she took a breath, "It's torture."

She reached out and took Evy's hand, squeezing it, "How so?"

"To have that connection severed, typically through...death. It's like tearing out a part of your soul, according to the records. It hurts so much Martha that you're in your own personal hell, basically unable to function, in constant pain, until..."

"Until?"

"Until you end it," Evy replied quietly.

The connection, no matter what feelings developed from it, ran so deep that you literally felt like you'd lost a part of yourself that you'd never get back. To be without part of your soul, to be without the Link, was crippling. It was agonizing. To be that connected to another person and have it suddenly taken away...it didn't happen often, before the war that is. Gallifrey had been relatively safe, no chance of sudden deaths, but then the Daleks attacked...

"Is the Filter working on John?" Martha asked suddenly, changing the topic, if only slightly, seeing the tears in Evy's eyes at the thought of the breaking of a Link, "Is it keeping him from Linking or would it not work because he's human now?"

"His memories as the Doctor are locked away in his head," Evy told her, giving her a small thankful smile at the change, "While his essence, the entirety of his Time Lord being, as well as remnants of his memories, are in the watch. He's not truly a human but the watch isn't truly a Time Lord either. The Filter is designed to keep others, mostly aliens, especially a Time Lord, from sensing the Time Lady essence in me. John's not a Time Lord and the watch doesn't have a Time Lord mind to fool. The separation is allowing both him and the watch to pick up on the Link and see me for what I would be to them."

"What's that?" Martha looked at her.

"For him," she nodded towards John, "I'm a woman, a human, that he probably thinks is perfect for him. As for the watch, it senses me as a Time Lady, its Link. There's just something in him that's pulling him to me, trying to establish that connection the Link would form."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" she smiled, maybe her work at getting the two of them together wouldn't be so hard.

"No," Evy disagreed, "It just makes it more complicated."

Martha frowned. Or maybe not. If the one who actually knew about the Link was fighting its affects, how on Earth was she going to keep with her plan when both she and the ignorant Doctor were fighting it once he was the Doctor again?

"I'm going to keep an eye on him," Evy said suddenly, pulling Martha from her thoughts. She looked up to see John walking off with Nurse Redfern.

"I'll try and track down Timothy," Martha began.

"No," Evy cut in.

"What? Why?"

"If the Family finds us, they'll be looking for you and me to get to him," she gestured to John's retreating figure, "They'll never think to look for it in the hands of a human schoolboy."

"Yeah, suppose you're right," Martha sighed, seeing John disappear around a corner, "You'd best be off then. Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble like the Doctor would."

Evy just nodded before walking off in the direction John had just gone down.

~8~

Evy frowned as she entered the town, she'd lost sight of John and was starting to grow worried. She could feel he was perfectly safe through the Link, the connection would be there in some form no matter what species he turned himself into, but not having him in her sight was less than reassuring.

She sighed, leaning against a shop and resigning herself to what she was about to do next. She closed her eyes, scrunching her face in concentration as she worked on altering her brainwaves just enough to be on something of a human level. It was how Time Lords were able to read the minds of others. They were a mildly telepathic race, usually needing a physical connection to read the mind of another. But with a lot of practice and effort they could manipulate their minds to read the surface thoughts of other species, even project their thoughts if they wished, as she had proved to the Torchwood team. Having a capacity to handle a Time Lord mind though meant that John would be operating at a wave just a bit higher than human. So she focused on that, the closer she got to him, the louder his thoughts would become, she just had to reach out and…

'… _that was just a dream,_ ' she could hear in her mind, a bit strong. Good, that meant he was close by.

She pushed off the wall, opening her eyes but keeping her head down as she walked, trying to keep her focus going.

' _All those images of mud and wire,_ ' she heard Joan saying to him, ' _You told of a shadow, a shadow falling across the entire world._ '

She turned down a path, walking up a slight incline, passing a woman pushing a pram, as the words got louder, ' _Well, then we can be thankful it's not true. And I'll admit mankind doesn't need warfare and bloodshed to prove itself, everyday life can provide honor and valor and..._ ' his words trailed as she heard his thoughts shift towards her.

She must be close enough for him to see her.

' _Let's hope that from now on this, this country can..._ '

She turned a corner, frowning, he seemed distracted by something.

' _Can find its heroes in smaller places..._ ' he trailed off again.

She was passing a shop now.

' _In the most..._ '

There was just another little incline, as soon as she breached it she would cut her focus and start looking the old fashioned way.

' _Ordinary…_ '

She could just barely make out a group of men holding a rope in her peripheral vision, almost there.

' _Of deeds!_ ' his voice yelled in her head.

Then suddenly all his thoughts became alarmed and directed at her. She cut the connection just in time to look up, moments before a milk churn fell before her, causing her to stumble back in shock and trip. She fell to the ground just as a piano which was being lifted by the men with the rope crashed to the ground a few feet in front of her. Moments later, as her shocked mind raced to catch up with her, she caught sight of a cricket ball on the ground next to her. She smiled fondly at it before she reached out and grabbed it, just she was helped off the ground by two of the rope pullers.

"Out of the way!" a voice called and she looked over to see John pushing past the men to grab her arms, "Are you alright?"

She let out a breath, holding out the ball to him, "I believe this is yours?" he looked down at it. Seeing recognition flash through his eyes Evy reached out and hugged him, "Thank you."

"Uh, it was…" he stumbled of his words, hugging her back, inhaling her scent, just savoring the moment, "It was just a lucky shot."

She pulled away, smiling at him, "It was  _amazing_ ," she reaffirmed.

Something in his heart gave a flutter at her smile and praise and before he knew what he was doing, he'd taken her hand in his own, "Might I invite you to the village dance this evening, Ms. Evy?" he asked quickly, "As my guest?"

Evy's eyes widened in shock, she was  _not_  expecting that, "I wasn't even aware there was a dance…"

His expression fell, "Oh…well, then, that's alright. I just…"

"But I'd love to go with you, Mr. John," she cut in, teasing, earning a smile and an enthusiastic hug from the man.

He turned around, still smiling even when they caught sight of Redfern standing there a little ways away, a sad smile on her face.

"I'll escort her back," he informed the nurse, "Are you coming Matron?"

She flinched at the formal title, something that didn't go unnoticed by Evy whose smile dimmed, before shaking her head, "No, no, that's quite alright. I still have a few errands to run in town. I shall see you both at the dance then?" she waited till she received a nod from them before turning and walking off.

~8~

John beamed as he and Evy walked back to the school, passing a few fields on the way, seeing more than a few tattered scarecrows.

"So does this Doctor you dream about do these impossible things with cricket balls too?" Evy asked. He'd just finished describing a few of his dreams to her on the walk.

"Well, I discovered a talent, that's certainly true!" he laughed.

"But the Doctor has an eye for the ladies!" she teased him, referring to Joan's previous comment about the sketches in his book.

"The devil!"

"A girl at every fireplace?" she added, just trying to gleam how much of his past as the Doctor he might remember. And Madame de Pompadour was an unforgettable part of it.

But John just laughed again, "Now, there I have to protest, Evy, that's hardly me!"

"You'd be surprised," she muttered, when he stopped walking to stare at a scarecrow hanging oddly.

"That scarecrow's all skewed," he commented before crossing the furrows, pulling her along by the hand he'd entwined with hers some time ago. He quickly began straightening the stuffed man across his frame.

"Ever the artist I see," she laughed, before looking at him curiously, "Might I as where you learned to draw?"

"Gallifrey," he answered quickly.

She blinked, apparently  _some_  things were coming through, "Is that in...Ireland?" she hesitated to ask, trying to keep the hope that he'd correct her out of her mind.

"Yes," he said after a moment, sounding just as hesitant, but for a different reason, he was unsure, "It must be, yes."

"But you're not Irish?" she pressed, trying to push him just a bit more. If she could get some semblance of the Doctor back, just enough to open the watch if need came to it…

"Not at all, no," he shrugged. She frowned, she could tell he was about to go into the mind frame of the story downloaded into his brain, "My father Sidney was a watchmaker from Nottingham and my mother Verity was a mechanic, actually."

"A mechanic?" Evy raised an eyebrow, vaguely wondering if some aspect of her had somehow made its way into the story the Doctor had given John, she was a handy little repair-woman herself, "Really?"

He shrugged again, "She had lot of brothers. Sort of a family business."

"Well we do make such good wives."

He paused, looking over at her, "You're a mechanic?"

She gave him a sly grin, "Something of the sort. I'm told I'm very good at fixing things."

He looked over at the scarecrow, "And you didn't think to help me fix this?"

She just laughed and linked her arm with him, pulling him away and down the road.

~8~

They were back in John's study, Evy sitting, a bit uncomfortable, as John tried to sketch her. She'd been sitting there for about an hour, a record for her. Being Linked to the Doctor, one similarity they shared was the inability to sit still for very long.

"Can I see?" she asked as he finally lowered the book, indicating he was finished.

Instead of handing it over to her he got up and moved to sit on the sofa next to her. He held up the book for her to see and her mouth dropped open in shock. It was stunning, very well drawn, she'd never had any sort of artistic ability in any of her regenerations.

"Oh, my," she breathed, "I don't really look like that, do I?" she was a bit stunned by the actual depiction. He made her out to be some sort of beauty in the ink.

"Most definitely," he smiled.

She shook her head, "You've made me far too beautiful."

"Well that's how I see you."

She looked up at him, "But you've only just met me John, not even a day ago."

"But it feels like a lifetime I've known you," he said, his voice deep as he fondly brushed some hair from her face. He began leaning towards her until he was able to place a gentle kiss on her lips a moment before pulling away.

"I've never, um..." he looked into her eyes and found himself at a loss for words like he often was in her presence. Instead, he leaned in and kissed her again, a long, loving kiss full of such promise that Evy couldn't stop the tear that escaped her eye as she felt her hearts break, knowing what would eventually come.

He'd open the watch and forget all about this and before that happened he'd learn the truth about John Smith and the Doctor and be devastated.

Just as he was about to deepen the kiss the door flew open and Martha ran in.

"Martha, what have I told you about entering unannounced?" he demanded, pulling back from the kiss.

Martha's eyes widened as she stared at them, before rushing out of the room, shutting the door behind her and leaning against the wall in shock, "Well that happened sooner than I expected," she muttered to herself.

However, inside the room, Evy jumped to her feet, wiping the tear from her eye before John could notice.

"I'm sorry about her Evy," he sighed, standing up. He moved towards her, reaching out to take her hand, but she pulled away.

"No," she shook her head, backing up towards the door, "I'm sorry, but...I can't."

She ran out the door, shutting it behind her, to see Martha leaning against the wall across the hall, she ran over to her, "Martha,  _please_  tell me the Doctor left some sort of instruction about this."

"What?" she frowned, the thrill she'd been feeling now gone.

"Please?" Evy begged.

"No," Martha shook her head, "I don't think he did."

"Show me the video again. The whole thing, there must be  _something_!"

~8~

There was  _nothing_. They'd watched the video four times already but there was nothing about what to do should the Doctor or John Smith fall in love. The only comfort the girls could see was that he'd fallen for Evy and not a human, that could have complicated the matter even more.

"Four, you," the Doctor was saying as the video played again, "Don't let me abandon you."

"Of course he wouldn't think about women," Evy mumbled, fast forwarding to the end, as far as he knew their species ended with him, his Link was dead with the planet, there would be no woman to fall in love with, "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Thank you," the Doctor finished, Evy pausing on his smiling face.

She frowned, reaching out to brush her fingers over the still frame of the Doctor, even sitting there he was so different than John, but they were the same person. And the Link, the connection, the tug she felt, it didn't care, human, Time Lord, as long as it was HIM.

"Nothing!" she pushed away from the screen to walk around the console to face Martha as she sat on the captain's chair watching the Time Lady, "What should we do now?"

Martha sighed, "We get you ready for the dance."

~8~

They were walking back to the school when Evy spotted Timothy sitting on a bench, toying with the watch, "You go ahead," she told Martha, before walking towards him, "I'll be there in a moment."

The closer she got to the bench, the clearer she could hear the whisperings of the watch as Timothy did, " _The darkness is coming...keep me away from the force and empty man...the last of the Time Lords, the last of a wise and ancient race.._."

Timothy looked to the side to see Baines walk over to another man, Mr. Clarke, who was then joined by a little girl holding a red balloon. They all looked over at him a moment later, tilting their head to the side and sniffing deeply.

"You should put that away till they've gone," a voice said beside him. He turned to see Ms. Daniels, Martha's friend, sitting next to him but glancing away from the trio so they couldn't see her face. He looked down at the watch, hiding it beside him as he turned to look back at the trio still standing there. They stayed that way a moment longer before their heads snapped to the side and they walked off.

"You know what they are?" Timothy turned to glance at her, just sensing that.

She nodded, "It's not them anymore."

He picked the watch up again and examined it before she spoke again, "So that's where he's gone to then?"

He looked up, startled, "You know about the man trapped inside?"

"The Doctor. Last of the Time Lords of Gallifrey."

"The Doctor," he nodded, "That's what he called himself. How do you know about him?"

Evy sighed, looking at him frowning at the watch, "You're frightened of him, aren't you?" Timothy just looked up at her again, searching her eyes for something before nodding and looking down in shame, "There's nothing to be ashamed of Tim, anyone not scared of the Doctor is a fool."

"But you're not afraid," he said suddenly, his senses telling him it was true.

She smiled, reaching over towards the watch before hesitating, "May I?" he lifted the watch in his hand, expecting her to take it but instead she clasped her hand over his, pressing the watch between their hands.

He gasped as his mind was flooded with images so very different from the ones he'd seen. He saw the Doctor, for it was the Doctor, but he was smiling and laughing. He was hugging people and saving them from monsters. He was joking and making people laugh. He seemed so human, so warm, so kind…

Evy pulled her hand away and the images disappeared.

"How did you do that?" he looked at her, his brow furrowed in confusion. She just held a finger to her lip as the watch began whispering excitedly.

"… _Link…let her hold us…_ " it whispered to him, he held out the watch to her but she shook her head, " _…protect her…keep her from the Family…not the last…there's another…finally…safe…_ "

"What does all that mean?" Tim shook his head.

"The last thing he wants to do," she nodded to the watch, "Is scare me," she laughed a bit, "As if he could. I've known him at his worst, at his most terrible..." she trailed before smiling, "And at his best."

He looked down at the watch, brief snippets of information filtering though his head, "You're his Link…" he said slowly, "You're his."

"And he's mine."

"Then this is yours," he tried to give her the watch again but she refused.

"I can't."

"But it wants to be held. It wants  _you_  to hold it."

"In my hands Tim, he can easily be found by those who wish to harm him," she explained, "My holding it is like it being opened. They can sense it. So I need to ask something big of you Tim, perhaps too big."

"What?" he looked at her, "Anything."

"Keep him safe," she stood, "Watch over him till the time is right. Can you do that?"

He looked at the watch for a moment before looking at her. He nodded, standing, and putting the watch safely in his pocket.

~8~

Martha held out a dress she'd plucked from the TARDIS for Evy, waiting in the room for her to get back from speaking with Timothy. She'd learned quite a bit more about Evy as a person on their way back. Heading out to the TARDIS Evy had been silent, only saying how she hoped there was something about what to do should John fall in love with someone. But on the way back, Martha had had to ask the question that had been bothering her since Evy ran out of John's study crying.

She had asked her what was wrong with the Doctor or John falling in love with her. Surely it could have been worse had he fallen for someone like nurse Redfern, a human.

Evy had sighed and explained that, John being so willing to kiss her, getting so close to her so fast, was a sign that the Link was trying to establish itself on his part. She said it wouldn't truly connect as the Doctor was human and only had the vague remnant sensations of what a Link would feel like, that, in his human mindframe, he might associate that sort of connection with love, confuse the two. The Link couldn't be completed either because the watch didn't have a Time Lord mind to connect to her.

That had just led to her asking the important question, why didn't she want the Doctor to Link to her? She still wanted to know why the woman hadn't told him she was a Time Lady, but she'd learned so much about the Link in such a short time, she really wanted to get everything straight. And...she could tell it was hard enough just talking about her connection to the Doctor, her reasons behind hiding who she was would have to wait till another time.

The answer surprised her greatly. She  _did_  want the Doctor to Link to her, of course she did, but she didn't want to hurt him.

She explained that he cared very much for Rose, something even Martha could sense despite not being a Time Lord or connected to the Doctor. He cared for his former companion so much she might even say he loved her. For him to Link to someone would mean that whatever relationship he'd formed with Rose, whatever connection they had, would be severed. Not completely destroyed but dimmed greatly. He wouldn't feel for Rose what he had felt if he Linked to her. Especially at first.

The moment of Linking was an overwhelming experience. And, until the sensations settled, it was fairly hard to cope with suddenly being so connected to someone else. All connections formed with others paled in comparison. Typically, in Links that led to romantic feelings, this person would be the most important person in your world. Their Link was always and would always be more important than anything. Evy knew it would hurt the Doctor to know that he suddenly didn't care for Rose as much as he had, especially since she  _had_  been so important to him. She'd even gone on to say, God forbid, there was a situation where a choice had to be made, Evy or Rose, and the Doctor was Linked, romantically, to Evy, he'd pick her without hesitating. Apparently Links were both a more advanced consciousness of a Time Lord but could also render in them very primal instincts. Protection of your Link came so naturally, you put them above everything else. They're happiness, their safety, came first.

It explained  _so much_. The Doctor, somewhere in his mind, would be disheartened about the loss of his relationship with Rose if he Linked to Evy before he was ready to let go. And, knowing he would be, was preventing Evy from Linking to him. He wasn't ready to let go.

To be honest, Evy wasn't certain if he ever would, but if that were true, then she would be content to never Link to him. No, not content, but she would bear it, just to see him stay happy.

And then there was the little issue of...if the Doctor did develop romantic feelings after the establishment of the Link at all.

It must be terrifying for Evy to love the man so completely and not have a clue as to what sort of feelings might develop from him. She honestly believed that the Doctor had to have some sort of romantic feelings for Evy if the way John Smith was acting was anything to go on. But Evy refused to see it. Evy didn't strike her as the sort of person to do anything without some sort of knowledge that everything would be alright in the end, without having some sort of backup plan. But there was no way to have one in this situation.

If the Doctor Linked to Evy before he was ready, she knew Evy was frightened of the thought that his relationship and feelings for Rose might influence the Link. That it might make him less inclined to develop and return the same feelings that Evy had.

And for all they knew of Linking, which not even the Time Lords had a specific knowledge of, she could be right.

Martha shook her head, smoothing out the dress. That girl…she was something else. She really should have competed with Tallulah and Lazlo. Evy and the Doctor were like star crossed lovers, meant to be together (she just  _knew_  it) but with everything keeping them apart.

The door opened and Evy stepped through, giving her a brief smile and a nod, Timothy was alright. Martha returned the smile, showing nothing of her inner turmoil for her friend, "Let's get you ready then."

~8~

John was rushing around his room, which looked as though a storm had blown through it from the utter disarray. He was standing by a mirror, holding up two ties, similar in design, but just a bit different in color. He was looking between the two before tossing the navy one to the side and beginning to put a black one around his neck. He turned away, glancing at the jacket lying on his bed, when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" he shouted, not looking behind him. He heard the door open as he finally managed to work the tie, "I apologize for the mess Martha but I'm in a bit of a rush. I must speak with Evy about…"

He turned around and his words died in his throat as his hands froze mid-tie-tightening. It wasn't Martha who had entered the room, it was Evy.

His eyes widened as he looked at her. She was dressed in a very pale green evening gown with long sleeves billowing just a bit but with tight cuffs. It was ruffled around the V neckline and fell in a series of about five layers from a high waisted, dark green belt. Her hair was pulled back by a small green clip. She was beautiful, well, she was always beautiful to him but now…she was…words couldn't describe it.

She smiled softly at his familiar reaction before walking over to him. She reached out and gently shut his mouth, which had fallen open, before taking the tie from his hands and doing it herself.

"You look wonderful," he managed to get out as she stepped back.

"Thank you," she blushed, "You look very handsome."

He fidgeted, "I um…I didn't think you would come tonight," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I feared I may have offended you or done something wrong before…you rushed out so…"

"I'm sorry," she interrupted him lightly, "It wasn't anything you did. I suppose…I was just startled. I was not expecting it. I fear I was a bit overwhelmed," a smile soon grew on his face at her words. He  _hadn't_  scared her off, "You'd best give me some warning, um, can you actually dance?" she raised an elegant eyebrow. She knew from the Link a few of his incarnations could dance, but could the human him?

"Um..." he frowned in thought, "I'm not certain..."

"There's a surprise," she laughed, it was odd to hear the Doctor say he didn't know something, it was rare.

He stepped towards her, "You said before that it was unexpected yes?" she nodded, "So…" he stepped closer, "If I were to…give you fair warning…" he took another step till he was right in front of her. He leaned in a bit, barely an inch from her mouth, "May I kiss you Evy?"

He did not get a reply save the feel of her pressing her lips to his.

~8~

Martha let out a breath as she set down a pot of tea on an elaborate tray and smiled to herself. She'd just finished getting Evy ready for the dance. It had taken a bit of convincing to get her to not back out on John.

The way Martha saw it, and eventually convinced Evy of the same, the Link couldn't form while the Doctor was human, there was no harm in a dance. She'd just left her and gone to the cook to deliver some tea to Mr. Poole only to find he didn't want it and she was free to have it. It would be a nice cup of tea for her and Jenny, a fine way to end a turbulent day.

She looked up just as the door opened and smiled wider when Jenny walked in, "There you are! Come and look what I've got. Mr. Poole didn't want his afternoon tea so cook said I could have it. And there's enough for two," she frowned a bit when Jenny just stood there, "What are you standing there for?" Jenny sniffed deeply, "Are you alright?"

"I must have a cold coming on," Jenny finally spoke, walking over to sit at the small table with Martha.

"Problem is, I keep thinking about them but I don't know what to do," Martha sighed. As soon as the Doctor was himself again, all the work she'd done to get John and Evy together would be for nothing and she'd have to start again.

"Thinking about who?" Jenny tilted her head.

"Mr. Smith and Evy," she smiled sadly, "'Cos they've finally just got together right, and he'll be gone in a few weeks."

"Why?"

"It's like he's going to leave, like his contract comes to an end," she sighed, "And she's gonna be heartbroken but she's not going to say a thing to let him know."

"Leave for where?"

"All sorts of places. I wish I could tell you Jenny, but it's complicated."

"In what way?" she didn't even blink.

"I just can't," Martha shook her head.

"It sounds so interesting," Jenny replied, but there was something in her voice that just didn't sound right, "Tell me. Tell me now."

Martha frowned, it wasn't like Jenny to pry so forcefully, "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes thanks," she nodded slightly.

"I could put a nice bit of gravy in the pot," Martha tested, "And some mutton. Or sardines and jam, how about that?"

"I like the sound of that."

Martha bit back the stiffening she felt, "Right...hold on a tick."

She got up slowly and moved towards the door, trying to remain as calm as she could so as to not alert the woman, who was clearly not Jenny any longer, to her suspicions. She shut the door behind her, walking towards the stairs before breaking into a run. She managed to get outside the building when a blast of familiar green light hit the ground behind her, just barely missing her foot.

She ran as fast as she could back to John's study, rushing through the door, barely noticing him and Evy separating from what was probably a very loving kiss.

"They've found us," Martha exclaimed, rushing up to Evy.

"Martha, I've warned you…" John began, but Martha wasn't listening.

"They've found us and I've seen them…" she gasped, grabbing Evy's hands, "They look like people, like us, like normal."

"I know," Evy squeezed her hands, she had been able to tell the three she'd seen near Tim were members of the Family, "Martha, I know, there were three of them…"

"They've got Jenny," Martha cut in, knowing which three she was talking about, "They've taken her too."

Evy glanced up to see John staring at them curiously. Getting him all riled up would not help their cause later, "Excuse me John," she quickly said, pulling Martha out of the room and shutting the door before he could say anything, "They've taken Jenny?" she asked, Martha nodded frantically, "Then they've completed their integration to Earth. There are only four to a Family. They're all here now."

"What do we do?" she asked, "Without the watch…"

Evy frowned, thinking quickly, "The sonic screwdriver," she said, "If we can't get the watch, maybe we can get just enough of the Doctor out of him to get him to leave with us by showing him some of the things from the TARDIS."

Martha nodded, that could work, "I'll go get it. You take him to the dance and keep an eye on him. I'll meet up with you there, yeah?"

Evy sighed, already knowing Martha wouldn't listen to her about not wanting her to head out on her own. She nodded, squeezing her hand once more before Martha took off down the hall. Moments later the door behind her opened and John peeked his head out.

"I heard Martha rush off," he muttered, "Everything alright?"

Evy nodded, "Yes…just…um…culture shock?" she ventured, "She…something about aliens?"

John nodded in understanding, it must be hard for Martha to be around people so different from her.

~8~

Martha ran off into the night, not even bothering to get a bicycle in her haste to get to the TARDIS. She ran around a corner, bumping into Tim.

"Oh sorry!" she shouted, rushing off, not even realizing it was Tim she'd run into nor that he still had the watch that they needed, all she was focused on was getting to the TARDIS.

Tim frowned as he saw Martha running away from him but in much different clothes than her maid's uniform. But the vision faded the farther she got.

He looked down at the watch, " _Danger…_ " it whispered, " _They are coming…find our Link…find her…protect her…_ "

~8~

Evy looked up from glancing around the room of the dance hall she and John had entered only moments ago when she sensed something behind her. She glanced over to see Tim sneaking into the room before something red caught her eye. She saw the little girl, sitting at a table, holding a red balloon. She kept the frown from forming on her face as she turned back to Tim, catching his eye and nodding ever so slightly over towards the girl. He followed her gaze before nodding back to her and slipping behind the crowd to disappear into the back of the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a man announced, "Please take your partners for a waltz."

John held out a hand to her which she took before he led her onto the dance floor just as the music began.

"So you  _can_  dance," she commented as he led her around the floor in perfect time, not even stepping on her feet.

"I've surprised myself," he smiled, before they bumped into another pair, "Sorry."

She laughed as they got back to the dance, "It seems I've spoken too soon."

~8~

There was one thing to be said, this John Smith really was quite the dancer. He'd kept her going for five dances before finally asking her if she'd like something to drink. She agreed and he led her off the dance floor and went to get the refreshments. She looked around, her eyes quickly scanning for Tim, then checking on the girl, before she noticed Nurse Redfern, not for the first time either. Throughout the dances she had shared with John she had seen the matron watching with a sort of forlorn, resigned look. It tugged at her hearts because she knew that John and the matron had been close before she had arrived, Martha had told her so. And even if she hadn't informed her, it was obvious enough to her that the nurse fancied John Smith a bit more than she let on.

She sighed, walking over to the matron's table, sitting down across from her, "He's different from any other man you've ever met," Evy said quietly, it wasn't a question but more of a statement.

Redfern looked up, eyeing the girl before her closely, as though studying her. Evy knew what she was doing, she was trying to see what John Smith saw in her that he didn't see in anyone else.

"Yes," she answered finally.

Evy nodded, "And you can't help but love him," Redfern looked at her sharply, startled, "Don't feel bad…not many people who meet him don't fall in love with him in some way."

"And you?" Redfern asked tersely, she just couldn't fathom why John was so keen on her. It had taken him two months of getting to know  _her_  before he worked up enough power to just hold even the briefest conversations with her, and then this girl shows up and he's all silver-tongued.

"I've loved him far longer than he remembers," she sighed, "And much longer than he's aware."

"You've only just met him," Redfern retorted, getting a bit worked up, "And suddenly he's so taken with you. He doesn't even look at m…" she trailed off, embarrassed that she had gotten so caught up.

"He doesn't even look at you how he used to," Evy finished, "Like you were special?"

Redfern stared at her, her eyes wide in disbelief, how had she known?

Before she could even speak, Martha ran over to them.

"Have you got it?" Evy stood up to face Martha. Martha nodded, pulling out a small metal cylinder with a light on the end, the sonic screwdriver.

"What's that?" a voice said beside them, they looked up to see John standing there with two drinks in his hand.

Martha glanced at Evy before holding it up to John, "Do you know what this is?"

John stared at it, just the barest flash of recognition flashing in his eyes, "Name it," Evy encouraged lightly, "Go on, name it."

He reached out, putting the cups down and slowly took the sonic out of her hands, turning it over in his own.

"You're not John Smith," Martha told him gently, "You're called the Doctor. The man in your journal, he's real. He's you."

John opened his mouth, as though about to name the device, when someone stormed into the room, knocking over a hat stand, causing people to shriek and move away. Evy looked up to see a man possessed by the Family standing there with an alien gun in his hand. She reached out and pulled Martha behind her. Martha looked over at her friend's serious expression before realizing this man was part of the Family.

"There will be silence!" he shouted, "All of you!"

Scarecrows began to file in the room after him with the boy Evy saw in the hall and Jenny.

"That's them, isn't it?" Martha whispered to Evy who nodded, her eyes trained on them.

"I said silence!" the man shouted again.

"Mr. Clarke!" the announcer demanded, "What's going on?"

Mr. Clarke just turned on him, firing his weapon at the announcer who dissolved into nothing but dust.

"Mr. Smith, everything I told you, just forget it!" Martha exclaimed quickly amidst the shrieking, "Don't say anything."

"We asked for silence!" the boy, Baines, called out, forcing everyone to be silent, "Now then. We have a few questions for Mr. Smith."

"No, better than that," the little girl with the balloon said, skipping over to the Family, "The teacher. He's the Doctor. I heard them talking."

Evy cursed silently to herself, she hadn't even noticed the girl had snuck over to them as she focused on helping John remember.

"You took human form," Baines stared at John.

"Of course I'm human, I was born human!" John exclaimed, "As were you, Baines. And Jenny, and you, Mr. Clarke! What is going on? This is madness!"

"And a human brain, too!" Baines laughed, "Simple, thick and dull."

"He's no good like this," Jenny commented.

"We need a Time Lord," Clarke added.

"Easily done," Baines replied. He stepped forward, raising his gun and aiming it at John as the crowd gasped. Evy jolted to move to help him but Martha grabbed her arm.

"We don't need you exposed too," she hissed to her friend, knowing that if she drew too much attention to herself the Family would notice her, and then they might notice the Perception Filter.

"Change back," Baines demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," John shook his head.

"Change back!"

"I literally do not know…" he began but Jenny reached out and grabbed Martha who had been so startled by the move that she dropped Evy's arm.

"Get off me!" Martha shouted as Jenny pulled her to her, holding her against her like a shield but with the gun to her head.

"Martha!" Evy shouted, moving forward but John pulled her back, pushing her behind him.

"She's your friend, isn't she?" Jenny tilted her head, "Doesn't this scare you enough to change back?"

"I don't know what you mean!" he said frantically, moving to step to the side, trying to block Evy from her gun.

Jenny tilted her head even more as his action called something to her attention, "Wait a minute...the maid told me about Smith and the woman...that woman, there!" she pointed at Evy.

"Let's have you!" Clarke shouted, quickly grabbing Evy from behind John before he could react.

Clarke held her by the arm in front of him, his gun at her, but not held as close as Martha was to Jenny.

"Let her go!" John shouted, glaring at the man.

"Have you enjoyed it, Doctor?" Baines asked, "Being human? Has it taught you wonderful things, are you better, richer, wiser? Then let's see you answer this. Which one of them do you want us to kill? Maid or mistress? Your friend or your love?"

Martha gulped, Evy's words coming back to her. If there ever came a time for the Doctor to choose between Rose and a Linked Evy, he'd not hesitate to pick Evy. The Link was trying to break through…and she knew…she _knew_  who John Smith would pick.

"Your choice."

To be continued…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now we know more about the Link, the good and bad, as well as Evy's reasons for not wanting the Doctor to Link to her right now. This isn't all of her reasons for not letting him know she's a Time Lady though, that will be explained in Blink :)


	12. The Family of Blood (Part 1)

"Perhaps if that human heart breaks, the Time Lord will emerge," Baines eyed John, "It's your choice."

Evy closed her eyes, focusing on the power of time around her. Within the span of a second she stepped out of Clarke's grip and grabbed the gun off him. The Filter worked perfectly, making everyone assume she'd just managed to pull away and gotten a lucky grab in, the Family didn't even realize she was a Time Lady as she stood before them, aiming the gun at Jenny. Whatever they smelled off of her, the Filter tricked their minds into believing it was an ordinary human scent.

"You let her go or I will shoot you where you stand," she threatened, glancing at the Family as she turned the gun on Jenny, ignoring the startled looks of those behind her and the wide eyes of John she could feel burning a hole in the back of her head, "And don't even  _think_  of trying to move her into the shot. I can shoot far faster than you can move."

Jenny smirked, "You wouldn't risk the life of the human Jenny."

Evy glared, "I know what you've done to them, there is  _nothing_  left. I am not adverse to taking a life to save a thousand. Now let her go!"

Jenny glanced at Baines, who nodded. She shoved Martha away and Evy pulled her behind her and switched the gun on Baines, seeing that he was clearly the one in charge of the Family.

"Careful, Son of Mine," Clarke said, seeing how serious woman now holding a gun at them was, "This is all for you so that you can live forever."

"Shoot you down!" Baines threatened, now holding a gun straight at Evy who didn't even flinch. She had stared down the eyestalk of a Dalek in the middle of a war, this Family was nothing but an annoyance.

"Try it," she dared, "I've already made it clear I'd fire at Jenny and I like her far better than you. You want to risk it?" Baines looked at her long and hard before lowering his gun, "There's a door at the side," Evy called out to the humans, nodding to it, "It's over there. Go on! Get out! Everyone! Get out now!"

They didn't need to be told twice before the crowded room quickly emptied as people ran for their lives, "Evy…" Martha whispered behind her.

She looked back to see John hesitating, not wanting to leave her. Knowing he wouldn't listen to her, she glanced at the matron, "Get him out!" Redfern hesitated a moment before pushing him out of the room. She looked over to see Tim standing in the back as well, "Tim go!" she shouted and soon he ran out as well.

And then, all that remained was the Family, the scarecrows, and them.

"She's almost brave, this one," Baines commented, grinning, as the Family slowly advanced towards them. Now that there were no humans that might hold them back and give her the chance to fire, things were in  _their_  favor.

"What happened to Jenny?" Martha asked as they backed up, "Is she gone?"

"She is consumed," Jenny replied, "Her body's mine."

"You mean she's dead."

"Yes. And she went with precious little dignity. All that…ahh…screaming."

Evy glared and moved to fire but hesitated just one moment, which was enough for one of the scarecrow soldiers to grab her from behind, pulling the gun out of her hands. Martha pulled her arm, forcing her to duck and run out of the room, Martha leading the way down the hall.

"Why did you hesitate?" Martha asked as they ran, "You had a clear shot…"

"Jenny was your friend," she replied, "I didn't want you to have to see that and...let's just say…I wasn't completely honest about taking a life to save a thousand. The Doctor isn't the only one who doesn't like guns," they burst through the front door, only to see John and Redfern waiting for them at the gates, "Oh, he's _rubbish_  as a human!"

"What are you doing here?" Martha demanded as they ran towards the duo.

"He wouldn't leave," Redfern shook her head, glancing at John who was staring at Evy, looking her over to see for himself that she was alright.

"Come on!" Evy shouted, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the road, Martha and the matron following behind.

~8~

They were all breathless when they made it into the school, John closing the heavy wooden door behind them before rushing to a hand bell and ringing it.

"What're you doing?" Evy asked.

"Maybe one man can't fight them, but this school teaches us to stand together," he told her before shouting, "Take arms! Take arms!"

"You can't do that!" Martha exclaimed.

"You want me to fight, don't you?" he turned to glare at her, "Take arms! Take arms!"

The boys began rushing down the stairs, Hutchinson heading straight towards him, "I say sir, what's the matter?"

"Enemy at the door, Hutchinson. Enemy at the door. Take arms!"

The boys immediately scattered around the school, gathering guns and other weapons to prepare themselves.

"You can't do this, Doctor," Martha shook her head, trying to reason with him, "Mr. Smith!"

But he wasn't listening, instead focusing on the boys, "Maintain position over the stable yard."

"They're just  _boys_! You can't ask them to  _fight_!"

"Faster now! That's it."

"They don't stand a chance," Evy said quietly, though her voice reached him nonetheless. Finally he stopped and turned to face the three women who had been following after him.

"They're cadets, Evy," he told her, "They are trained to defend the King and all his properties."

"What in thunder's name is this?" the headmaster called, rushing into the room, "Before I devise an excellent and endless series of punishments for each and every one of you, could someone explain very simply and immediately exactly what is going on?"

"Headmaster, I have to report the school is under attack," John turned to him.

"Really?" the headmaster asked incredulously, clearly he didn't believe a word of it, "Is that so? Perhaps you and I should have a word in private..."

"I promise you, sir. I was in the village. It's Baines, sir. Jeremy Baines and Mr. Clarke from Oakham Farm. They've gone mad, sir. They've got guns. They've already murdered people in the village. I saw it happen."

The headmaster's eyes widened as he turned to look at the other women in the room. He recognized one as Martha, Mr. Smith's maid, and some other woman he'd seen walking with Mr. Smith earlier. But then he saw the matron, dressed for a dance, clearly having come from there as well, of the three, she was the only one whose word he'd trust for now, "Matron, is that so?"

"I'm afraid it's true, sir," she confirmed.

"Murder on our own soil?"

"I saw it, yes."

"Perhaps you did well then Mr. Smith," he turned back to John, "What makes you thing the danger's coming here?"

"Well, sir, they said, um..." he trailed.

"Baines threatened Mr. Smith, sir," Redfern cut in, trying to help as best she could, "Um, said he'd follow him. We don't know why."

"Very well," the headmaster nodded, "You boys, remain on guard. Mr. Snell, telephone the police. Mr. Philips, with me. We shall investigate."

Martha ran over and put herself in the headmaster's way, "No, it's not safe out there."

"Mr. Smith, it seems your favorite servant is giving me advice," he glared at Martha, "You will control her, sir."

He moved to leave but Evy pushed her way in front of him as well, "How dare you sir?" she glared at him, startling him with the cold in her eyes, "She was trying to give you sound advice that could save your life and you…"

"I shall not stand here and be berated by some foolish woman," he glared at her as well.

"You  _can't_  let the boys fight!" she shouted, feeling her temper start to rise, "You have  _no idea_  what you are getting into!"

"I have seen battle madam. I was in South Africa, I used my dead mates as sandbags, I fought with the butt of my rifle when the bullets ran out. I…"

Suddenly there was a sharp sound.

Every boy ceased their work to look up, shocked, as Evy slapped their headmaster.

"You think you've seen  _war_?" she asked, her voice colder than anyone had ever heard from her. Even Martha stepped back, "You have  _not_  seen a war like I have, one that is so much worse than any of the past or those to come on this planet. This is a war you  _cannot_  win."

Martha shuddered as Evy turned and glanced at John to see him staring at her, shocked, before walking over to the window. Martha watched as the headmaster shook himself and headed out, ignoring Evy's warning. She took a breath before heading over to Evy's side, noticing that the matron was following her as well. She knew Redfern's husband had been killed in a war, it seemed she was just as against the boys fighting in this battle as she was.

"We need to find Tim," Evy said quietly, turning to face them having seen them approach in the window, trying to calm her temper...she'd nearly lost her tongue just then, said more than she should have. Whether or not the Doctor would remember what she said or didn't say when he returned, if those men discovered her to be an alien, with an alien threat at the door, they'd attack her too.

She rubbed her head, "He has the watch," she glanced at John who had gone back to helping the boys and sighed, "I'll stay here, keep an eye out."

Martha nodded, taking Redfern's hand and pulling her out of the room before she could ask Evy any questions, which Martha knew she must be bursting with. Given her little outburst with the headmaster, she doubted Evy would be willing to talk much just yet. It had taken her forever to get the Doctor to speak of his people, to tell her what happened, the war, Evy was even more wary of speaking about her people because of the Filter.

Evy turned back to the window, looking out just as she saw Baines and Jenny step up to the gate with scarecrow soldiers. Moments later the headmaster stepped out to face them.

"So, Baines and one of the cleaning staff," she could hear the headmaster say through the thin glass, "There's always a woman involved. Am I to gather that some practical joke has got out of hand?"

"Headmaster, sir," Baines grinned, "Good evening, sir. Come to give me a caning, sir? Would you like that, sir?"

"Keep a civil tongue, boy."

"Now, come now everyone," Mr. Phillips, who had joined the headmaster, spoke, "I suspect alcohol has played its part in this," Evy let out a little breath when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder, she didn't even have to look up to know it was John come to look out the window with her, "Let's all just calm down. And who are these friends of yours, Baines? In fancy dress."

"Do you like them, Mr. Philips?" Baines glanced at the scarecrows, "I made them myself," he walked over to one of the soldiers, "I'm ever so good at science, sir. Look…" he pulled the arm off one.

"Molecular fringe animation," Evy whispered. She could feel John's hand tighten just a bit in shock when Baines said the same thing.

"Molecular fringe animation fashioned in the shape of straw men," Baines turned back to the headmaster, "My own private army, sir. Ever so good, sir."

"Baines, step apart from this company and come inside with me," the headmaster shook his head.

"No, sir," Baines stepped up, "You, sir, you will send us Mr. John Smith. That's all we want, sir, Mr. John Smith and whatever he's done with his Time Lord consciousness. Then we'd be very happy to leave you alone."

Evy reached out and grabbed John's hand at the threat in Baines words.

"You speak with someone else's voice, Baines," the headmaster noticed, "Who might that be?"

"We are the Family of Blood."

"Mr. Smith said there had been deaths."

"Yes, sir!" Baines actually grinned at that, "And they were good, sir!"

"Well, I warn you, the school is armed."

"All your little tin soldiers. But tell me, sir, will they thank you?"

"I don't understand."

"What do you know of history, sir?" Baines tilted his head, "What do you know of next year?"

"You're not making sense, Baines," he shook his head as Evy closed her eyes, knowing exactly what Baines was speaking of.

"1914, sir. Because the Family has travelled far and wide looking for Mr. Smith and, oh, the things we have seen. War is coming. In foreign fields, war of the whole wide world, with all your boys falling down in the mud. Do you think they will thank the man who taught them it was glorious?"

"Don't you forget, boy, I've been a soldier," the headmaster shouted, "I was in South Africa and I would go back there tomorrow for King and Country!"

"Et cetera, et cetera," Baines suddenly turned and fired on Mr. Philips, turning him to dust. Evy frowned as John's grip on her hand tightened, he was worried, "Run along, headmaster. Run back to the school, and send us Mr. Smith!"

Evy watched as the headmaster turned and fled before looking up at John, "Don't worry," she reassured him, placing a hand on his cheek and drawing his attention away from the straw army and back to her, "They  _won't_  get you," she smiled softly, stroking his cheek, "Not if I have anything to say about it."

He tried to smile at her as well, but he could feel something forming in the pit of his stomach at her words. The last thing he wanted was her to be harmed trying to protect him.

"Mr. Philips has been murdered, Mr. Smith," he looked up to see the headmaster walking in, "Can you tell me why?"

"Honestly, sir, I have no idea," he replied, "And the telephone line's been disconnected. We're on our own."

"If we have to make a fight of it, then make a fight we shall," the headmaster determined, avoiding Evy's glare as best he could by turning to Hutchinson, "Hutchinson, we'll build a barricade within the courtyards, fortify the entrances, build our defenses. Gentlemen, in the name of the King, we shall stand against them."

"Yes, sir!" the boys shouted, filing out of the room to help fortify their school while John and Evy watched.

"And how many will survive?" Evy wondered out loud, unaware that John had heard her, before he too walked out of the room, leaving her, to help the boys.

~8~

Martha was currently looking around John's study, checking behind sofas and under desks and in closets, trying anywhere she thought Tim might be able to hide as she also tried to explain to Redfern just exactly who John Smith really was, "I know it sounds mad, but when the Doctor became human, he took the alien part of himself and stored it inside the watch. It's not really a watch, it just looks like a watch."

"And alien means...not from abroad, I take it," Redfern asked, standing there, watching Martha.

"The man you call John Smith...he was born on another world."

"A different species."

"Yeah," Martha nodded. She wasn't trying to be hurtful by just throwing all this at the woman, she liked the matron, she was a good person. But she could also tell that the woman had taken quite a fancy to John Smith and, after learning everything she had about Time Lords and Links, she knew in her heart that the Doctor could never be anyone but Evy's. It seemed like even John Smith thought that.

Evy was a good person, a friend, someone who tried her best to look out for others. She was just what the doctor ordered for...well...the Doctor. She was just what he needed. And Evy, bless her, was just the sort of person to put others before herself and do what she could to make others happy and not try to hurt them. It was one reason she was taking this whole Link thing and the knowledge that she herself didn't stand a chance with the Doctor so well. It was hard to stay mad at Evy, she was just too good.

"Then tell me," Redfern spoke, cutting into her thoughts, "In this fairy tale...who are you?"

Martha frowned, Redfern clearly didn't believe a word she'd said. She'd been hoping that, by telling her about Time Lords and such, she might give up on John Smith…but she was resisting her at every turn and she was truly hoping she wouldn't have to bring up the Link. It might crush the matron to know that even when John had taken an interest in her that ultimately his heart always would belong to someone else. She was almost entirely  _certain_  that, should the Doctor Link to Evy, he would develop and return the woman's feelings 100 percent. Now if she could just get Evy to realize that the Doctor genuinely cared about her and it wasn't just John Smith confusing the connection the Link was trying to form with love.

"Just a friend," Martha smiled, glad she could call herself that at least.

"You're human I take it?"

"Oh, I am," she turned back from looking behind the curtains, "Human, don't worry, and more than that, I just don't follow him around. I'm training to be a doctor, not an alien doctor, a proper doctor, a doctor of medicine."

"Well that certainly is nonsense. Women might train to be doctors, but hardly a skivvy and hardly one of your color."

"Oh you think?" a voice said from behind them. They looked over to see Evy standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed and a semi-playful smile on her face, so different from the cold, hardened woman they had seen downstairs, "Show her Martha."

Martha smiled, seeing her friend in better spirits, before turning to Redfern and holding up her hand, "Bones of the hand. Carpal bones, proximal row: scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform. Distal row: trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate. Then the metacarpal bones extending in three distinct phalanges: proximal, middle, distal."

"You read that in a book," Redfern replied, startled at how professionally Martha had described and pointed out each bone she spoke about.

"Yes, to pass my exams," Martha laughed a bit as Evy walked in and went to stand by her, "Can't you see this is true?"

Redfern glanced over at Evy, "And what about you? What's your role in this whole story?"

Evy frowned slightly, looking away, "I'm not entirely sure," she admitted. She really didn't.

Martha sighed, "She's like the Doctor's mate."

"So you're a friend too then," Redfern nodded, relieved, with the way John seemed to focus on her she'd thought...

"Wrong 'mate.' Soul mate."

"Martha!" Evy hissed, nudging her, knowing the words must have hurt Redfern, knowing that the words might not even be true.

Redfern blinked, her breath catching in her throat at the words. She couldn't even dispute them, argue against such nonsense, not with the way John was acting ever since meeting Evy. She swallowed hard as the truth hit her. He was in love with Evy, "I must go," she said suddenly, heading for the door.

"But Matron!" Martha called, stepping forward, "We need to find Tim and that watch. If we do, we can stop them."

"Those boys are going to fight," Redfern shook her head, pausing in the doorway, "I might not be a doctor, but I'm still their nurse. They need me," and it was true, at least  _they_  would need her.

John Smith obviously did not.

And it hurt her more than she was willing to admit.

Evy sighed, watching her go, before turning to Martha, "Tim's not on this floor. We're going to have to check further up."

She had left when John had gone to prepare the boys with the headmaster and couldn't bear to just stand there and watch him readying children for battle. She'd seen enough children being slaughtered on Gallifrey, she didn't need to see it on Earth as well. They had to find that watch, if anyone could stop the Family before more bloodshed, it would be the Doctor. She wouldn't be able to do anything without revealing herself and she needed to remain alive long enough to protect the Doctor, protect John.

Martha nodded and followed her out of the room and up the stairs to begin their search anew.

"Should one of us get the TARDIS ready?" she asked as Evy opened a door to see a linen closet.

"No," she shook her head, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that, the Doctor's scared of the Family right? That's why he ran."

"No. He was just being kind."

"What do you mean 'kind?'" Martha frowned.

"If there's one thing you never want to experience Martha," Evy opened another door and went in, looking under the beds for Tim, "It's the fury of a Time Lord. Because when we get angry, truly and properly angry, we don't just lash out and try to hurt you, no, we hold back and we plot and we strategize. We come up with the optimal way to hurt you back. And you never want to be in the way of us seeking revenge…" she shook her head as she straightened up and walked out of the room for the next, "That's why it's kinder for the Doctor to run away."

"I'm still not seeing it," Martha said after a moment.

"Look at what they're doing here Martha," Evy stopped to face her friend, "They're hurting people, killing them. The Doctor's not just going to slap them on the wrists for that," Martha still looked a bit lost, "They want to live forever yeah?" Martha nodded, "I don't doubt the Doctor would give it to them, but not in the way they expect," she laughed in thought, "Imagine living forever but being trapped. Unable to do anything but live."

Martha's eyes widened as she realized what was being said. She watched Evy turn around and check the next room, a thought occurring to her. When Evy had confronted the headmaster and spoken of war…the coldness in her voice, in her eyes…that was only the beginning of the fury she was speaking of. She shuddered, she didn't even want to think of what a truly furious Time Lord could be like.

She shook her head free of such thoughts when she heard Evy gasp, "What is it?" she shouted as Evy turned and ran out of the room and down the hall.

"They've found the TARDIS!" she shouted, rushing down the stairs, "We need to find Tim!"

~8~

John was walking into a room with two boys, Redfern preparing some materials for the infirmary, "You're with Armitage and Thwaites," he was instructing them, when he noticed her, "They know the drill," they walked off and he went over to her, "Matron, it's not safe."

"I'm doing my duty, just as much as you," she replied, before pausing and turning to look at him, "Why do you call me 'matron' now?"

He seemed thrown by the new topic but before he could answer a familiar woman ran past them, headed towards the front of the school, "Evy!" he called, turning and running after her, completely forgetting the matron was there.

He managed to catch up with her just down the next hall, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to face him, "What happened?" he asked in concern.

"Nothing," she replied, breathing heavily from the run, "I need to find Timothy."

"Latimer?" he frowned, "What's he done now?"

"Nothing. But John…I  _need_  to find him."

"He's outside with the others. Perfectly fine. Helping prepare and all. Now what's this about?"

She frowned, rubbing her forehead as the TARDIS sent out another psychic distress call of sorts, she was being moved. She really needed the Doctor right now. She quickly turned to face him, "Tell me about Nottingham."

"Sorry?" he shook his head, startled at the sudden turn in conversation.

"That's where you were brought up. Tell me about it."

"Well, it lies on the River Leen," he began slowly, still frowning at how random the question was, "Its southern boundary following the course of the River Trent which flows from Stoke to the Humber."

"That sounds like an encyclopedia," she cut in quickly, "Where did you live?"

"Broadmoor Street. Adjacent to Hotley Terrace in the district of Radford Parade."

"But more that facts," she told him urgently, she needed him to realize how little he actually  _knew_ , how little personal information he had besides facts, "When you were a child, where did you play? All those secret little places...dens and hideaways that only a child knows? Tell me, John. Tell me."

His eyes widened as he realized what she was implying, "How can you think that I'm not real? When I kissed you, was that a lie?"

She flinched, closing her eyes for a moment, "No, it wasn't. No."

"But this Doctor sounds like some...some romantic lost prince," he frowned at her, "Would you rather that? Am I not enough?"

"No," she answered quickly, "That's not true. Never."

But it wasn't the whole story, he was more than enough but he was only a half of a full being. She felt like she was being pulled apart. When the Doctor had become human the Link had split, pulling her towards John, but also towards the presence in the watch.

"I've got to go," he began, moving off.

"Those boys," she called, causing him to pause and look back at her, "They're _children_. John Smith wouldn't want them to fight, never mind the Doctor," she walked over to him, placing her hand over his single heart, "The John Smith I know…he knows it's wrong, doesn't he?" she looked up, into his eyes, "I love you for who you are on the inside. In your very heart and soul…and wanting these boys to fight…that isn't who you are in any version."

John's gaze softened and he lifted a hand to stroke her cheek, about to respond, when the headmaster's voice drifted over to them from another room, "Mr. Smith, if you please!"

"What choice do I have?" he asked before kissing her deeply and rushing off.

"There's always a choice," she breathed.

"Have you found Tim?" Martha asked, rushing over to her just managing to catch up to her now. She had to remind herself to ask later if it was just a Time Lord thing to be a fast runner.

Evy nodded, "He's outside."

"Oh no," Martha's eyes widened in horror.

They quickly ran towards the front window, looking out to see the boys huddled there, but Tim was gone.

"Where's he gone this time?" Martha exclaimed.

"Come on," Evy grabbed her hand, pulling her back into the school and up the stairs.

~8~

They'd had to recheck all the rooms they'd just come from now that Tim was gone again. Martha was at her wit's end about it, having to do it all over, and threw the papers that had been on a desk to the ground before running out of the room to see Evy leaving another one.

"Can't you sense the watch?" she asked, frustrated. They were wasting so much time and the Family was just getting closer and closer.

"Not unless it's open," she rubbed her head about to suggest they split up when her head snapped up. The watch was open. She took off up the stairs, Martha guessing what had happened and following close behind. They raced through the halls until they reached the dorm room Evy had first seen Tim in.

It was empty.

"Damn it!" Martha shouted.

"Martha," Evy breathed. She turned around to see Evy staring out of a window, moments before the sound of guns went off. She ran across the room to see the boys firing at the scarecrows.

It had begun.

~8~

The scarecrows had breached the gates, the boys were all at the ready, everyone who could was standing ready with guns, John Smith included. They were just waiting for the command before opening fire.

"Fire!" the headmaster shouted and suddenly guns were blasting, straw was flying everywhere, the scarecrows began to fall, but more kept coming.

John raised the gun, taking careful aim, his finger tightening on the trigger when something caught his eye. He looked up to see Evy, standing in the window of the boy's dormitory, staring down at the battle.

The longer he looked at her, the more his grip on the gun loosened. He just…he couldn't bring himself to fire, even at bags of straw. She was right, this was  _wrong_. He looked at the boys, they were so young, they shouldn't know how to work guns, they shouldn't know the heat of battle. As the firing started to die down he looked up once again, but Evy was gone.

"Cease fire!" the headmaster shouted, drawing his attention back to the mass of students around him. He lowered his gun as the headmaster walked over to the straw men, "They're straw, like he said, straw!"

"Then no one's dead, sir?" he looked over to see Hutchinson standing at his side, "We killed no one?"

John flinched at that hopefulness in the boy's voice. How had he let it escalate to this level? How had he called young boys to war? Been so ready for them to kill the enemy?

It made him sick.

They all looked up as footsteps were heard, coming closer. The headmaster quickly walked back over, behind the safety of the guns and turned to face the enemy. They were all shocked to see a little girl with a red balloon standing there when the smoke had cleared.

"You child, come out of the way," the headmaster said, approaching her, "Come into the school. You don't know who's out there. It's the Cartwright girl, isn't it? Come here. Come to me."

"Mr. Rocastle, please," Martha called, rushing out of the door with Evy. John gave a breath of relief to see that Evy was alright, "Don't go near her."

"You were told to be quiet," the headmaster glared at the maid.

"And you were told that this is something you cannot fight," Evy stepped up, glaring at the man.

"Listen to me," Martha begged, "She's part of it! Matron, tell him."

John looked behind him to see that Redfern had indeed come to stand outside as well, "I think…I don't know. I think you should stay back, Headmaster."

"John," Evy said, glancing at him.

"She was…she was with…with Baines in the village," he confirmed, his eyes on Evy for a moment before turning to the headmaster.

"Mr. Smith, I've seen many strange sights this night but there is no cause on God's Earth that would allow me to see this child in the field of battle, sir," he glared at John before turning back to the girl, "Come with me."

"You're funny," the girl commented.

"That's right," the headmaster smiled, holding out a hand, "Now take my hand."

"So funny," she repeated, before reaching into her coat and pulling out the alien gun. She shot the headmaster, turning him to dust, and looked up at the boys, staring at her in horror, "Now who's going to shoot me, any of you, really?"

"Put down your guns," John ordered the boys, lowering his own rifle.

"But sir, the Headmaster…" Hutchinson began.

"I'll not see this happen," he told them, glancing at Evy who gave him a small nod, "Not anymore. You will retreat...in an orderly fashion back through the school. Hutchinson, lead the way."

"But sir…" Hutchinson argued.

"I said, lead the way," he ordered.

"Go on," Baines called, joining the fray, "Run!" he fired his gun into the air as screaming and panic set in. The boys ran for a retreat.

"Come on!" Martha shouted as Evy grabbed John's hand and pulled him into the building with her.

~8~

They managed to lead some of the younger boys down a passage in the basement to the stables, rushing them through in a desperate attempt to get them out of the school before the scarecrows could get to them.

"Let's go!" John shouted, ushering them through a door.

"Quick as you can!" Evy called.

"Don't go to the village!" Martha added, "It's not safe!"

"And you, ladies!" John looked at the three of them, Martha, Evy, and Redfern.

"Not until we get the boys out," the nurse replied stiffly.

Just as the last boys ran through, Evy stiffened, her head snapping to the side before she tried to run back down the passage to the school, Tim was still in there with the watch.

John reached out and grabbed her, stopping her, "No!" she shouted at him, "There're still boys in the school."

"I insist lot of you just go," John pushed her back towards Martha who held her, "If there are any more boys inside, I'll find them," he went to open the door to the passage, only to see a number of scarecrows on the other side. He quickly shut it and locked it, turning to them, "I think...retreat!"

He ran down the passage, taking Evy's hand, and leading them out.

~8~

They were walking along the edge of the woods, trying to sneak around the school when they heard someone shouting in a sing-song voice, "Doctor!" they called, "Doctor!"

They crouched down behind some bushes and looked out to see Mr. Clarke standing in front of the TARDIS with a group of straw soldiers around it.

"No," Evy whispered, her eyes wide and on the box.

"Come back, Doctor!" Clarke shouted, "Come home. Come and claim your prize."

They watched in horror as Baines, Jenny, and the little girl joined him, "Out you come, Doctor!" Baines called into the night, "There's a good boy. Come to the Family."

"Time to end it now!" Jenny added.

Martha looked over to see John staring at the TARDIS, a vague look of recognition in his eyes, "You recognize it, don't you?" she whispered.

"Come out, Doctor!" Jenny continued, "Come to us!"

"I've never seen it in my life," John insisted.

"Do you remember its name?" Evy tried gently.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Smith, but you wrote about it," Redfern added, "The blue box. You dreamt of a blue box."

He shook his head frantically, "I'm not…I'm John Smith," his voice broke a bit and Evy immediately took his hand in hers. He turned to face her, "That's all I want to be. John Smith, with his life...and his job...and…" he stared directly into Evy's eyes, "…and his love. Why can't I be John Smith? Isn't he a good man?"

"The best," Evy replied, tears in her eyes, her voice equally as broken.

"Why can't I stay?" he begged an answer from her.

Evy swallowed hard, but it was Martha who gave the answer, "Because we need the Doctor."

"So what am I then, nothing?" he demanded, now angry, "I'm just a story."

He got up and ran off, Evy going after him while Redfern looked on sadly, imagining a time where that might have been her. Martha pushed herself up and went off as well, Redfern following.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor John Smith. Evy's quite the firecracker though isn't she? I really wanted someone to try and slap some sense into the headmaster and Evy's just the sort to do it.
> 
> Next chapter will be very emotional, not only for John but Evy as well. She wants to protect the human and the watch, what will she do in regards to the Family in order to do that? Hmmm... And we'll find out whether or not the Doctor will remember his time as John Smith :)


	13. The Family of Blood (Part 2)

The small group ran down a country road, stopping momentarily to get their bearings. John had his hand in Evy's, doing his best not to look at Martha, still upset over how ready she was to get rid of him in favor of this Doctor, while Redfern looked around.

"This way," Redfern called, "I think I know somewhere we can hide."

"We've got to keep going," John shook his head.

"Just listen to me for once," she snapped, before catching herself, "Follow me."

Martha glanced at Evy who nodded. Martha sighed and followed Redfern off, Evy coming with her, tugging John into following as well.

They'd only just walked down the road when Redfern led them to a small cottage.

"Here we are," she said, "It should be empty. Oh, it's a long time since I've run that far."

"But who lives here?" Martha asked.

"If I'm right, no one," she answered, walking into it. She looked around cautiously, "Hello?" she called, but got no response, "No one home. We should be safe here."

"Whose house is it, though?"

"Um, the Cartwrights. That little girl at the school…she's Lucy Cartwright, or she's taken Lucy Cartwright's form. If she came home this afternoon and if the parents tried to stop their little girl, then they were vanished."

Evy stepped forward, placing a hand on a teapot on the table, "It's cold," she looked up at Martha, "No one's been here for a very long while."

John sat down heavily on one of the chairs at the table, hunching over, "I must go to them before anyone else dies."

"You can't," Evy insisted, taking a seat beside him.

"There must be something we can do," Redfern commented.

"Not without the watch," Martha shook her head.

"You're this Doctor's companion!" John turned and shouted at her, "Can't you help? What exactly do you do for him? Why does he need you?"

She smiled softly, not at all perturbed by the fact he'd yelled at her, he was under an incredible amount of stress right now, "I used to think he needed me because he was lonely. And he was, lonely that is…but, turns out, he doesn't really need me after all, never did…he just needed…"

John looked at her when she trailed off, "Who?"

Martha didn't say anything, just looked over at Evy who was looking at him sadly. He was about to ask what they meant when there was a knock at the door.

"What if it's them?" Redfern asked, fearful.

Martha glanced at Evy to see her staring in the direction of the knock curiously, "I'm not an expert, but I don't think scarecrows knock."

Evy stood up quickly, "It's Tim," she said, rushing over to the door and opening it to see the boy standing there.

"I brought you this," he said, holding out the watch, "I kept it safe like you asked."

" _Evy…_ " the watch whispered, calling to her.

She was a bit startled at the fact that the watch had called out to her by name, so far it had just referred to her as its Link. She stood to the side, letting Tim enter, checking behind him to make sure none of the scarecrows had followed, before shutting the door. She returned to the dining room to see Martha holding the watch out to John.

"Hold it," Martha insisted.

"I won't," John shook his head, backing away.

But Martha was persistent, "Please, just hold it."

"It told me to find you," Tim added as Evy walked over, "It wants to be held."

"Why didn't you return it before now?" Redfern asked.

"Because it was waiting," Tim looked at her before taking a breath, "And because I was scared of the Doctor."

"Why?" she frowned. The three in the room who truly knew what the Doctor was like looked at each other. Redfern truly had no idea what she was dealing with when it came to the Doctor, to who John really was.

"Because...I've seen him," Tim spoke up after a moment, trying to find the words, "He's...like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun."

"Stop it," John blinked, moving back.

"He's ancient and forever," Tim continued, ignoring him, walking towards the man's retreating figure, "He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the Universe."

"Stop! I said stop it."

"And he's wonderful," came the quiet addition.

He looked over to see Evy smiling at him with such sadness in her eyes that he felt like he'd been physically hit with the realization that she knew. All this time…she  _knew_  who he was. She knew the Doctor was real. She knew John Smith was a story and still she…

"I've still got this," Redfern's voice cut through his thoughts, but he still couldn't bring himself to look away from Evy even as the nurse pulled out the book, "The journal."

"Those are just stories," he defended weakly.

"Now we know that's not true," she frowned, the full weight of everything finally hitting her, "Perhaps there's something in here."

Just then there was an explosion outside. They all gasped and ran to the windows to see what looked like meteorites falling to the ground.

"What the hell?" Martha demanded.

"They're destroying the village," Evy answered solemnly.

"Watch…" John mumbled softly, picking it up.

" _Come closer…_ " it whispered to him, though only he, Tim, and Evy seemed able to hear it.

"Can you hear it?" Tim asked.

" _Closer…_ " it whispered again, " _Closer…_ "

"I think he's asleep," John mumbled, staring at the watch he was cradling in his hands, listening to the voice and the presence in his hand, "Waiting to awaken."

"Why did he speak to me?" Tim asked.

"Low-level telepa…" Evy began to explain, when she heard John saying exactly the same thing but sounding just like the Doctor.

"Low-level telepathic field," John continued, "You were born with it. Just an extra synaptic engram causing…" he stopped suddenly, inhaling deeply and looking at them, startled, "Is that how he talks?"

"That's him!" Martha exclaimed, getting excited, "All you have to do is open it and he's back."

John shook his head, looking at Evy in accusation, "You knew this all along and yet you watched while I made a fool of myself and…"

"We didn't know how to stop you," Martha came forward, stepping beside Evy who was looking at the ground, tears in her eyes, unable to look at him as he shouted at her, and taking her hand, "He gave me a list of things to watch out for but that wasn't included."

"Falling in love?" he asked in alarm, "That didn't even  _occur_  to him?"

"No," Evy said quietly, so quietly John almost hadn't heard her.

"Then what sort of man is that?" he demanded in disgust, "And now you expect me to die?"

Evy flinched.

The explosions continued.

"It was always going to end," Martha explained softly, "The Doctor said the Family's got a limited lifespan. That's why they need to consume a Time Lord. Otherwise, three months and they die. Like mayflies, he said."

"So your job was to execute me," John glared at her before looking at Evy, "And you were going to  _let_ her."

"People are dying out there!" Martha shouted, glaring at him for saying that to Evy. She stepped forward, as though she could shield her friend from his words with her body, "They need him and  _I_  need him. 'Cos you've got no idea of what he's like. I'd die for him and I've only just met him…but Evy…" she glanced at her friend, "She's known him forever…"

"He is my life..." Evy whispered, "My hearts and soul, and he doesn't even  _notice_  me. He can't. But I don't care...'cos I love him too much to see him hurt..." everyone but Martha stared at her confession a bit confused, Martha could tell she was reaching her end, this was all getting to be too much, "And the worst thing is that he won't remember me saying this, he won't remember  _any_  of this when he comes back."

Martha squeezed her hand in support. This was tearing the woman apart. To have a man, a version of the Doctor, in front of her, who loved her dearly, and know that he needed to disappear into the mind of the Doctor so that the alien who barely noticed her, who she was terrified wouldn't one day love her, would return.

The house jolted as another explosion hit.

"It's getting closer," Tim shuddered.

"I should have thought of it before!" John suddenly shouted, holding up the watch, "I can give them this. Just the watch. Then they can leave and I can stay as I am!"

"You can't do that!" Evy looked up, eyes wide as she took a few steps around Martha towards him.

"If they want the Doctor, they can have him."

"He'll never let you do it," Martha frowned.

"If they get what they want, then…"

"Then it all ends in destruction," Evy told him, stepping up to him. Redfern watching from behind the pages of the book she was flipping through as though it would have an answer, "The Family would live forever, breed and conquer. War across the stars...for every planet…for every race…for every  _child_..."

She looked up to see him on the verge of tears, the full weight of it hitting him. Either he died so the Doctor could live or they all died.

"Martha, Tim, Joan," Evy said, her eyes still on him, "Would you leave us alone, please?"

Martha nodded, leading Tim and Redfern out of the room, seeing John so near a breakdown. As soon as they were out the door Evy had pulled him into her arms as he let out a sob for the decision he would have to make.

~8~

"If I give them this watch…" John said as he and Evy sat by the fireplace, the watch in his hands as he stared at it, "If I stay human…we could be together."

Evy looked away, her hearts breaking, "We can't…"

"But…"

"We can't be human together, if I'm not human," she explained, looking up at him as a tear fell from her eyes, she lifted his hand to the center of her chest where he could feel her two hearts beating, "I'm a Time Lady, like he's a Time Lord," she nodded at the watch, "Like you were."

He looked down at the watch, fiddling with it a bit, "And…if I became him again? A Time Lord. We could be together then?"

Evy swallowed hard and started crying.

He reached out and pulled her into a hug, confused over her response, when something she said came back to him, "I wouldn't remember this, would I?" he asked, "If I became him again. You said he wouldn't remember."

"He won't," she gasped.

"He won't love you. But I do…can't we just…can't you become human too?"

"I could. But I can't…"

"Why?"

"The Doctor protects the Universe," she said, his frown deepened as something about that sounded far too familiar to him, "Without him…" she trailed, before shaking her head, "Someone has to do it."

It wasn't even the whole story. While one of the most basic instincts was to protect your Link and make them happy, as equally as important was the protection of the connection, the Link itself, to be without it was physically crippling once it had been formed. She'd been Linked for so long that she might not even survive the transformation. She couldn't even tell him about the Link for fear of what the Doctor might subconsciously remember of his time as John Smith. She had to be especially careful given the fact that the essence in the watch knew of the Link and that would be a far more prominent and conscious part of the Doctor.

She glanced at John, hesitating a moment, "You could always find someone else, as a human, I…" she took a breath, "I know Nurse Redfern cares for you…perhaps…"

"No," he cut in, shaking his head frantically, "No. I could never. I…I could never love her, not like I love you. I couldn't love anyone the way I love you…" he shook his head, this time in thought, "It's strange…I should be mad at you, by rights I should hate you for keeping this from me…but…I can't," he looked up at her softly, "Why?"

She smiled sadly at him, "Perhaps because I understand. Because I'm different like you..."

He shook his head, "No, it's not because of that…it's because it's  _you_. It's hard to stay mad at someone you love," he took her hand and looked back down at the watch, "But you love him," he said after a moment. She nodded, "More than me."

"No," she whispered, gently pulling his face to look at her, "You  _are_  him. You are a version of him, just like the man in the watch is a version of him. You are one half of him and I love you just as much as I love him."

"But I'm not real," a tear fell from his eyes, "I really thought…being human…"

She hesitated before reaching out and holding the hand that was holding the watch. Flashes fluttered through their minds of a future they might have shared had she been human. She felt more tears falling as she saw a wedding, the birth of children, grandchildren, dying old in a bed having lived a full, safe, content life…she pulled her hand away.

"Did you see?" John asked, in shock, as he looked at her.

She nodded, "Time Lords have so many adventures but we couldn't ever have a life like that."

"And yet I could!" he looked down at the watch once more, struggling with the decision.

Knowing now what he could have, children, a family, a future…was incredible. How could he just give that up? But as he looked up at Evy another equally difficult question came up, how could he give  _her_  up?

Seeing his struggle she rose to give him time to think. She walked towards the door to the sitting room, pausing a moment to turn to him, "Don't think of it as sacrificing yourself," she said softly, though he could sense something odd in her voice, "Think of it as giving someone else the chance to succeed…giving those you care about the chance to survive."

And with that, she turned and walked out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts.

~8~

Evy sighed deeply as she walked into the sitting room of the cottage to see Martha, Tim, and Redfern sitting there, waiting.

The nurse looked up at her with a hard look on her face, "Why do you want John to do this?" she asked, standing to face the alien woman, "It's suicide. Don't you care about him at all?"

That was it. After everything that had happened, she did  _not_  need this too.

"I love him more than anything!" she shouted at the nurse, not caring what might slip out of her mouth in her anger, "Even as a human, I can't help but love him, every incarnation of him. I would give  _anything_  for him to be happy, like he is here, I don't want him to die," she looked down at her necklace, "I  _won't_  let him die…" she took a breath, steeling herself for what she needed to do. She looked up at Martha, "John won't be able to decide fast enough," she informed the girl, "I'm going to draw the Family away, give him some more time."

"How?" Martha stood up as well.

Evy smiled a bit, walking over to the door, "They want a Time Lord…I'll give them a Time Lord."

And with that, she yanked off the Perception Filter and ran out of the cottage. There was an almost instant reaction. The constant bombardment ceased and the distant shouts they could hear of the village being attacked by scarecrows dimmed. She knew that the girl, who was Lucy at some point, had seen them showing the sonic screwdriver to John, she would have her Family running scans for alien tech. If even the sonic was activated, they would pick it up and know where John was. But now...the Perception Filter was no longer hiding her, with nothing to focus its power on, it would register as alien technology through a scan. The Family would follow its trace, thinking she was the Doctor.

Martha ran to the door to see Evy disappearing into the fields. But even more alarming was that the ship was landing, much in the same fashion it had done when the Family first arrived, landing in the woods. Martha reached over to the desk beside her, scooping up a pair of binoculars and using them, just barely able to make out the forms of straw men marching off in the direction Evy had run.

She was  _not_  going to let her do this.

She threw the binoculars down and ran back to the room Evy had just come from, Redfern and Tim following close behind. Damn John Smith for forcing this situation upon them.

She threw the door open, startling the man who was now standing by the fireplace, staring at the watch.

"Has the bombardment stopped?" he asked, looking up, he'd heard the stop in the explosions.

"Yeah," Martha glared, "And the scarecrows have left."

"So the Family has given up?" the hopeful tone in his voice almost sent her over the edge, "I can stay human?"

"No," she half spat at him, "It's Evy."

"Evy?" his eyes widened and his face paled as fear gripped his heart.

"She's risking her life to lead them away from you."

"Why?" he half collapsed onto the hearth, his legs unable to sustain him from the shock. His heart felt like it was being constricted, he could barely breathe. And he realized, she hadn't been talking to him before she'd stepped out, but herself.

"She loves you," Martha said as though it should be obvious.

John looked down at the watch for only a second before flipping it open, he was not going to let her risk her life for his.

~8~

Evy gasped as she stopped suddenly, mid-run, to spin around and face the direction she had just come from. The watch was open, but this time she could sense it wasn't just going to be for a second or two, John had made his decision. She could already feel the Link strengthening with the return of his Time Lord self and his voice flitting across her mind.

She quickly fumbled in her pocket, pulling out her Filter and clipping it around her neck moments before the scarecrows caught up to her. They grabbed her and held her still until she saw four figures approaching from the distance.

The Family walked up to her, all of them staring at her in curiosity, this was not the Doctor. They knew that for a fact. They tilted their heads at her, inhaling deeply before glaring at her. She had tricked them.

She smirked at them, she certainly  _had_  fooled them, but not in the way they thought. Perception Filters affected not just the way you thought but your senses as well, what you saw, even what you smelled. When they sniffed, they  _should_  have smelled the Time Lady in her, but their brains were interpreting the Filter to make them think they smelled a human.

Her smirk dimmed though when she saw the angry expressions they were now wearing.

~8~

"Martha?" the Doctor asked as he looked around from his place on the floor to see Martha dressed as a maid, a young boy in a school uniform, and a woman in an old nurse's outfit standing over him.

"Doctor?" she asked hesitantly, moving to help him up when he nodded.

"Has it been three months?" he flinched, rubbing the back of his head once he was fully standing.

"Not quite…"

He glared at her, "I gave you specific instructions not to open the watch…"

"Unless it was absolutely necessary, yes, I know," she cut him off, more than a little irritated, she had not spent the last two months taking care of him just for him to snap at her about it, "The Family found us, they're attacking the town, people have died, and they won't stop till they've got you or they die."

"Oh," his eyes widened, "Well then, yes, good job," he strode through the house, ignoring the presence of the boy and the woman to get outside, "Where did their ship land?" he asked, looking around.

"Uh, that way," Martha pointed, "But they've got a cloaking device or something. It can't be seen by the human eye."

"Good thing I'm not human then," he smirked back at her before tossing the watch in his hand and catching it, heading off to the forest, whistling as he went.

Martha let out an exasperated breath, watching him go.

"So that's the Doctor?" Redfern asked, staring after him as well. Already she could tell he was  _not_  John Smith, just the way he carried himself, the way he spoke, his expressions.

"Yeah," she muttered, "That's him."

Redfern swallowed, "I need to get to the village, I can only imagine how many people were injured in that attack."

Martha frowned, "I'll help," she offered, "The Doctor should have this settled soon enough," she took a step down the path before she noticed Tim hadn't joined them. She turned around to see him staring off into the distance, but when she looked she couldn't see anything, "Tim? You coming?"

He shook his head, an odd feeling stirring in the pit of his stomach, "I think I'll wait here a bit…"

Martha nodded before heading off with the nurse.

~8~

Evy groaned in pain as another blow was dealt to her. She never would have thought that scarecrows could deal such heavy blows for being made of straw. When the Family had discovered that she'd lured them out and tricked them, they weren't pleased. They ordered the scarecrows to deal with her before heading back to their ship to destroy the town completely.

She'd fought and kicked and twisted as much as she could, but she was overwhelmed. The straw men had too strong a grip on her, as ridiculous as that was, and she could do nothing but take what they dealt.

She just hoped the Doctor would get to the ship in time to stop the Family. She could already sense him nearing it and his plan. But soon she could feel his voice in her mind fading as the pain in her body became too much to bear and blackness engulfed her.

~8~

There was an explosion in the distance and she could feel heat all around her, knowing the Doctor had succeeded in stopping the Family. She forced her eyes open, as wide as they could go given that one was swollen shut. She watched as the scarecrows around her grabbed their heads and stumbled back from her, falling to the ground moments before they burst into flames.

She tried to force herself up, to get away from them, but found herself unable to. Her limbs felt like they were made of lead and she could barely lift her head more than a few inches. The scarecrows were far enough away where she didn't have to worry about being set on fire, but it didn't make her feel all that comfortable either.

"Miss Daniels!" a voice shouted. She tilted her head just a bit to see the blurry form of Tim dropping to kneel before her, "Miss Daniels are you alright?"

He helped roll her onto her back but was too small to do anything else. He looked her over quickly, growing more worried as he saw the blood seeping through her dress from various wounds, "Hold on Miss Daniels," he told her, laying a comforting hand on her arm for a moment before standing, "I'll get help!"

And then he was off and Evy's world turned black once more.

~8~

Martha stood in the middle of the partially destroyed town, helping Nurse Redfern tend to the villagers that had been hurt. She kept glancing up every now and then, waiting for the Doctor or Evy to come back. There had been an explosion and when she'd gone to look, the TARDIS was gone. She could only assume the Doctor was punishing the Family as Evy had guessed, he wouldn't just leave them there after everything.

She let out a breath of relief when she heard someone whistling the same tune the Doctor had only to see him walking towards her with a smile on his face, though she could tell there was a coldness behind his eyes. Just as he was about to greet her someone ran into the crowd, calling for help. She looked over, concern filling her when she saw it was Tim. He ran right over to her, gasping for breath.

"Help," he begged, "It's Miss Daniels."

"Evy?" Martha gasped.

"What?" the Doctor's eyes widened. She was here? How?

Tim nodded, "She's been attacked by the scarecrows."

"Where?" the Doctor demanded.

Tim just took off running, the Doctor and Martha following close behind, but soon he was overtaken by the Doctor when he caught sight of the smoking remains of the scarecrows and a body lying amongst them.

"Evy!" he shouted, dropping to his knees beside her. He reached out, about to check her vitals, when Martha reached them and quickly began to do it for herself, glancing at the Doctor just to make sure he wasn't about to. The last thing she needed was for Evy to be discovered to be a Time Lady right now in the middle of this confusing mess. Perception Filter or not, having a pulse the result of two hearts was bound to tip him off.

"Evy!" he tried again, shaking her just a bit, but being careful of her injuries. He let out a breath of relief as one of her eyes fluttered open, the other too bruised to do so, "What happened?"

Evy coughed, "I tricked them," she tried to move her arm to something in her pocket, but couldn't muster the strength. Martha reached in and pulled out the sonic, her eyes widening, she hadn't even realized Evy had taken it after they'd showed it to John, "They scanned for alien tech."

Martha frowned, sure that the Perception Filter being removed from Evy's person was the alien tech she was talking about, but keeping quiet. For all the Doctor knew, the sonic was enough alien tech to be noticed.

"But what happened to you?" the Doctor asked, eyeing her.

"They thought I was you," she shrugged, wincing a bit, "I'm not...so...they were…were angry…" her words began to slur as her eyes fluttered closed once more in sleep.

The Doctor let out a sigh, shaking his head at her, as though sensing she would be fine but was just worn out. He reached out, scooping her into his arms, careful of her wounds, and turning to walk back to town, to the TARDIS, with Martha.

~8~

The Doctor walked into the Cartwright's home to see the woman from the night before standing in the kitchen, looking out the window. He'd been in the TARDIS for the better part of the night, booting her up, getting the med-bay going to help Evy heal, being a time machine healing was relatively quick. He'd had Martha fill him in on everything that had happened while he'd been human. He'd been a bit surprised to learn that Evy had only appeared about two days earlier after reworking Jack's Vortex Manipulator. He had felt like Martha was glossing over some facts but that couldn't be helped, she probably couldn't remember  _everything_  that happened in two months, and some things he just really didn't want or need to know.

Like that the woman, nurse Redfern, had taken a fancy to John Smith. Given the fact that she'd been there that night when he'd awoke, he could only imagine that John had taken a fancy to her as well.

Which was why he was there.

"Is it done?" she asked, not looking at him.

"It's done," he confirmed, watching her.

"Police and the army are at the school. The parents have come to take the boys home. I should go. They'll have so many questions. I'm not sure what to say…" she turned to glance at him but looked away quickly, "Oh, you look the same. Goodness, you must forgive my rudeness. I...find it difficult to look at you. Doctor, must call you Doctor. Where is he? John Smith?"

"He's in here somewhere," he tapped his head.

"Like a story," she remarked, "Could you change back?"

"Yes."

"Will you?"

"No."

"I see," she breathed, "Well then. He was braver that you, in the end. That ordinary man. You chose to change. He chose to die."

"Come with me," he said suddenly.

"I'm sorry?" she frowned.

"Travel with me."

"As what?"

"My companion."

"But that's not fair," she shook her head, "What must I look like to you, Doctor? I must seem so very small."

"No," he walked towards her, "We could start again. I'd like that, you and me. We could try, at least. Because everything that John Smith is and was, I'm capable of that, too."

"I can't," Redfern looked down. He really had forgotten everything hadn't he. How was she supposed to travel with him, knowing that, deep down, he would ultimately choose Evy.

"Please come with me," he said softly.

"I can't," she repeated more firmly.

"Why not?"

"John Smith is dead and you look like him," was all she could bring herself to say.

Martha had explained to her as they tended people exactly what Evy and he were, what they were to each other, or at least what they would be, and why the Doctor couldn't know. Despite the hurt she felt, Evy  _had_  been very brave, willing to give up her life so John could stay there, as a human, knowing full well that she herself might try to be with him. She owed the girl at least that, to not betray her secrets to the Doctor.

"But he's here," he walked closer to her, "Inside. If you look in my eyes."

He didn't know why he was so determined to see her travel with him. But...something inside him told him that there was someone...someone important. Someone he didn't want to lose. Someone he needed. It had to be Redfern, didn't it? Martha had mentioned she fancied him, she had been there when he'd woken up as the Doctor...who else could it be?

"Answer me this, just one question," she deflected his question, "That's all. If the Doctor had never visited us, if he'd never chosen this place on a whim...would anyone here have died?" he couldn't answer, "You can go."

He left the room, leaving her the journal John Smith had written on his way.

"You can come out," Redfern said as soon as she was certain he was gone.

Evy walked in from another room, "That was a bit harsh."

"Were you there the whole time?" she looked over at the Time Lady.

"Yes."

She nodded, "And you were just going to let him bring me along? Let him try to begin something with me, even knowing what John felt for you?"

"Yes."

"Why?" she shook her head, she couldn't understand. If John had loved her even half as much as he loved Evy…she wouldn't have given him up for anything. Even when she and John hadn't been something, she still hadn't wanted to share him with Evy.

"I want him happy more than anything," she said simply, shrugging just a bit, "If he thinks you can make him happy…I wouldn't stay in the way."

Redfern was silent before turning to look out the window again. Martha was right. This girl really was something else. To be that selfless...she could see now how she deserved a man as remarkable as John, as the Doctor.

"He deserves love," she said after a moment of silence, "You should tell him who you are."

~8~

Martha was waiting by the TARDIS, Evy having joined her moments before the Doctor came into view crossing the field, having taken a shortcut to get there first.

"Alright," he smiled up at them, "Molto bene!"

"How was she?" Martha frowned.

"Time we moved on," was all he said.

"If you want, I could go and…"

"Time we moved on," he repeated. He walked up to them, giving Evy a smile and nod, before turning to look at Martha, "And I never said thanks for looking after me," he reached out and pulled her into a bear hug while Evy just laughed.

"Doctor, Martha," Tim called, running up to them, "Miss Daniels!"

"Tim-Timothy-Timber," the Doctor greeted.

"It's Evy, Tim," Evy smiled at him.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," he told them, "And thank you, because I've seen the future and I now know what must be done. It's coming, isn't it? The biggest war ever."

"You don't have to fight," Martha remarked.

"I think we do."

"But you could get hurt," Evy commented.

"Well, so could you, travelling around with him," Tim countered, looking more at Evy, knowing about everything that had happened, everything that had been forgotten, "But it's not going to stop you."

"Tim, I'd be honored if you'd take this," the Doctor reached over and tossed him the watch.

"I can't hear anything," he said, looking down at it.

"No, it's just a watch now," Evy smiled.

"But keep it with you," the Doctor added, "For good luck."

"Look after yourself," Martha said, hugging him as Evy did the same.

"You'll like this bit," the Doctor winked, getting inside the TARDIS after the girls.

Moments later, it disappeared.

~8~

The Doctor hadn't waited long before he had the TARDIS reappearing in the same spot, years in the future, during a Remembrance Ceremony. They stepped out and walked to stand off to the side as female vicar read to a group of older men, one very familiar one in a wheelchair standing out to them as he held a fob watch.

"'...they mingle not with laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labor of the day-time; They sleep beyond England's foam. They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted…'"

Tim looked over to see them standing there, Evy fixing a poppy to the Doctor's lapel while Martha waved. He smiled, nodding to them as the vicar continued.

"'They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.'"

Once the ceremony had concluded, the Doctor made his way over to the man who had been a boy only moments ago to congratulate him for his numerous honors while Martha and Evy stood back where they'd been.

"Everything alright?" Martha asked, seeing a sad look on her friend's face.

"I'm…worried," Evy admitted.

"'Bout what?" she turned to face her.

"When they were separate people," she nodded at the Doctor, laughing with Tim, "The Link became active in the Time Lord essence…I'm worried it may still be there…a sort of inkling in the Doctor that'll push more and more towards his conscious thought," she sighed, "I shouldn't have been so careless, I should never have allowed John to get so close, I should never have touched that watch, allowed the Link to begin to reach out in it," she shook her head, "I'll just have to be more careful."

Just then the Doctor looked up and waved them over. Evy put on a smile and went to join them while Martha sighed to herself. It seemed pushing the Doctor and Evy together was going to be harder than she thought.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Evy. I thought that it would be a bit interesting if the Doctor didn't remember his time as John Smith. He said that the story of John was somewhere in his mind which I figured could mean that he wasn't even sure where it had gone, like it was locked away. John is a story he can only read if he is John...if that makes sense. Plus I'm all for a little angst lol. BUT! I will say, Evy is right to be worried about the Link trying to form now that the Time Lord in the Doctor is semi-aware there is a Time Lady, his Link, there...good times ahead, especially in Blink :)
> 
> Speaking of Blink, the next two chapters I made more into my idea of what the Doctor, Evy, and Martha were doing in 1969 along with a few bits of Sally Sparrow in the present so it definitely won't be the Doctor or Evy-lite. We're finally going to get Evy's reasons for not saying she's a Time Lady as well as some information about her family and what her secret ability is :)


	14. Blink (Part 1)

"I still don't see why  _we_  had to do this," the Doctor sulked as he, Evy, and Martha sat crammed in the back seat of a cab.

Evy rolled her eyes, "I told you…Jack and his team are busy handling some rampant Weevils and they can't exactly be in two places at once. He figured we could handle the lizards well enough."

She hadn't exactly told him Jack was a part of Torchwood yet. She and Jack both knew how the Doctor felt about the institution and they had worried that the Doctor wouldn't take her with him if he learned that Torchwood was involved. She and Jack had worked out a cover story for him. Basically it was that Jack had rounded up a few friends in this time that had experiences with aliens and alien technology and they'd formed a sort of freelance organization to help protect the world. Jack had been eager to see the Doctor, to get some answers as to why he'd left him stranded in time on the space station and talk to him about Rose, but again, he'd been worried he might offend the Time Lord and ruin Evy's chances of journeying with him, so he'd kept his mouth shut about it the last time they met. Evy had promised to tip him off the next time they were in Cardiff so that he might be able to meet the Doctor and discuss their issues.

When she'd called him from the TARDIS he'd been in the middle of a Weevil infestation and was stressing over how to take care of the lizards as well. When she said that they'd be in the area for at least an hour or two he'd asked if they could check out the lizards. She'd agreed, of course she did, she owed Jack and his friends  _so much_. Unfortunately she also knew that Doctor didn't want to stay there too long and wanted to leave as soon as the TARDIS had charged up again. Jack understood he may not get to speak to the Doctor this time, but he said, at some point he'd be bringing Martha back and then, if he hadn't discovered Evy, her as well and he would talk then. He'd also left the conversation with a little tidbit that the lizards were about to hatch in less than a half hour. Lovely.

Which was why they were currently racing off to check out the lizards. Now, normal lizards would be no problem…but these lizards…once they started migrating and the eggs hatched they could probably take over the world.

The cab pulled off to the side just a block or two away from the nest and they hurried to get out. Martha tugged on the Doctor's coat, nodding to the left in the direction they had to go, knowing the area better than the two of them from a few previous trips.

They turned and headed off in that direction when someone began shouting behind them.

"Doctor!" a young blonde woman shouted, "Doctor! Doctor!"

He turned around, Evy standing near him while Martha ran off down the road, having not seen them stop, "Hello!" he greeted, "Sorry, bit of a rush, there's a sort of thing happening, fairly important we stop it."

"My God, it's you, it really is you," the girl looked at him before glancing at Evy, "And you! The two of you! Oh, you don't remember me, do you?"

"We don't have time for this," Martha called, running back into view.

"Migration's started," Evy confirmed.

"And Martha!" the girl's eyes widened as she saw Martha appear.

"Look, sorry, I've got a bit of a complex life," the Doctor told her, "Things don't always happen to me in order. Gets confusing, especially at weddings, I'm rubbish at weddings, especially my own."

"Oh, my God!" she breathed, before shaking her head as she realized what was going on, "Of course, you're a  _time_  traveler. It hasn't happened yet! None of it, it's still in your future!"

"What hasn't happened?" Evy frowned, stepping forward.

"Doctor!" Martha called, "Twenty minutes to red hatching!"

"It was me," the girl breathed, figuring something out, "Oh, for God's sake, it was me all along. You got it all from me!"

"Got what?" the Doctor frowned.

"Okay," she grew serious, "Listen. One day you're going to get stuck in 1969. Make sure you've got this with you. You're going to need it," she handed him a purple folder.

"Evy!" Martha shouted, sounding very aggravated, knowing Evy would be able to get him moving.

The Doctor winced though, hearing her irritation in her voice, "Yeah, listen, listen, got to dash...things happening..."

"Well, four things," Evy added, "Four things and a lizard."

"Okay," she nodded, "No worries, on you go. See you around, some day."

"What was your name?" he paused in turning to run off.

"Sally Sparrow," Sally answered.

"Good to meet you, Sally Sparrow," he grinned. Another man walked up, looking at the trio in awe, clearly as stunned by the sight of them as Sally had been. Sally reached out and took the man's hand.

"Goodbye Doctor," Sally smiled, "Evy. Martha."

She turned and led the man back into a shop behind her just as Evy reached out and took the Doctor's hand, pulling him down the road towards Martha.

"Don't even think about it," she muttered to him as they took off in a run.

"Think about what?" he asked, though he had a grin on his face that made her groan.

~8~

The lizards had been surprisingly easy to deal with. The Doctor afterwards had not.

As soon as the lizards were gone he'd pulled the packet Sally had given him from his pocket and began examining the papers and pictures within. Evy couldn't help but shake her head at the thoughts now speeding through his head. Apparently, they would run into some Weeping Angels and be sent to 1969, without the TARDIS, where they would leave clues for that Sally girl to send the TARDIS back to them.

And apparently this adventure was too much for the Doctor to pass up on. He was currently planning a side trip back a little more than a year to the abandoned house that held the Angels.

Evy groaned quietly to herself, though Martha, who was standing near her, heard, "What's wrong?" she asked softly as the Doctor shut the folder and put it back in his pocket, turning towards them with a grin.

"We are  _not_  going to like this," was all she could say.

"How about one more trip while we're here?" the Doctor asked, walking over, not having heard them.

~8~

"You call this a trip?" Martha asked as they stepped out of the TARDIS which landed in the basement of a creepy house and proceeded to walk through it.

"Oh it gets better," Evy grumbled under her breath, sarcasm heavy in her words.

"Oh it's not that bad," the Doctor grinned again, not having heard Evy's comment. He walked around till he spotted a garden with a few statues of angels there, hiding their faces as they wept, "Have you ever wanted to time travel without a TARDIS?" he asked, his eyes still on the statues.

"Um…not particularly," Martha frowned, glancing at Evy who was glaring at the Doctor's back. He had no intention of telling Martha, or her for that matter, that she was about to be 'killed' by a Weeping Angel.

"Oh it's fascinating," he continued, before rambling about the different methods other planets had developed for traveling in time and stressing how they weren't as superior to a TARDIS, of course.

Martha turned to Evy, sensing something was up, "What's going on?" she whispered, making sure the Doctor couldn't hear them.

Evy rubbed her head, "Those statues…" she nodded at the window to the garden the Doctor was staring through, "They're called Weeping Angels. They're alien. If they catch you, they send you back in time…"

"Well…that's not so bad," Martha began.

"…so that they can consume the energy of the life you might have had in the present," she finished, "They basically let you live to death in the past. Everything you might have done in the present, in the future, they feed off of."

"So we're about to be killed by an angel statue then?" Martha's breath hitched.

Evy shook her head, "The Doctor's got a plan though..." she glared back at the Doctor, "It'll take a while, but he's got one and for once it seems to work."

"Oh," Martha nodded, still a bit in shock, "Right then."

"So!" the Doctor turned around, still smiling, "Martha you may want to close your eyes."

"Why?" she asked hesitantly.

"It's a surprise," he replied before he shut his eyes, a key to the TARDIS hanging from his hand.

Martha glanced at Evy who was staring at the angel statue, preventing it from moving. Evy then reached out and took her hand, squeezing it lightly. Martha took a breath before shutting her eyes and, moments later, Evy did the same...

~8~

The Doctor had gotten quite a chewing out from Martha once they realized they were in 1969. She'd demanded the Doctor tell her what happened, as though Evy hadn't already, because technically Evy wasn't supposed to know about his plan.

He'd been a bit hesitant to answer but eventually told her that they'd been killed by the Angel by being sent to the past to live out their lives. But then he'd taken out the folder and showed them all the evidence that said they would make it out alive and in one piece.

"But what's this bit mean?" Martha pointed to a copy of a transcript of some sort for a video they would eventually seem to make, "I get a job in the shop? What shop? A shop? A flower shop? A sweet shop? A mechanic's shop?"

"And what about this?" Evy looked up at him, "I'm apparently hounded by collegiate males?"

"Uh…well…" the Doctor stammered.

"And  _we_  support  _you_?" Martha raised an eyebrow, "Don't you have a job?"

"You really want  _him_  to get one?" Evy turned to her, "With his luck, he'll end up inventing something earlier than it should be just to amuse himself."

"I would not!" he defended.

"Oh really?" she crossed her arms and turned to face him, thankful that he'd told them this story in passing, "Banana Daiquiri."

"Oh…" he trailed, rubbing the back of his neck, "There  _was_  that…"

"Exactly," she rolled her eyes, "And if he doesn't manage to invent something, more than likely he'll blow it up, or try to fix something and blow it up, or try to use something and blow it up…"

"I'm not  _that_  bad!" he defended again.

"Should I give you the list?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as Martha had done, "I can start with things on other planets, things on this planet, or things in the TARDIS."

The Doctor hesitated a moment before looking down glumly, as though a child who had just been scolded, "No..."

"Good," she sighed and turned back to Martha, "We're going to have to find jobs and a flat somewhere."

Martha nodded, "I suppose you're right…shop here I come."

~8~

They had managed to find a small one bedroom flat with a small kitchen, sitting room, and bath that was just cheap enough for them to rent while maintaining temporary jobs. As a punishment for getting them into this mess, the girls had taken the bedroom and forced the Doctor to utilize the sofa.

He was currently sitting there, flipping through the few TV stations that were available as he waited for the girls to get back. They had gone to look for jobs, trusting that he wouldn't set the apartment on fire or blow it up while they were out. Evy had even gone so far as to unplug every appliance in there besides the TV.

"…honestly," he heard Martha say just before the door unlocked, "You're the only one I know who could go into a university to apply for a librarian position and walk out with a spot teaching physics!"

"It wasn't my fault!" Evy was defending, shutting the door behind her as they entered the room.

"What happened?" he asked eagerly, twisting on the sofa to face them, dying for some sort of amusement.

"You're looking at the new professor of physics at the university," Martha smirked, elbowing Evy.

"Really?" his brow furrowed, "I thought you were going to work in the library."

"I was," she replied, walking over to sit on the arm of the sofa beside him while Martha sat on a small chair next to it, "But apparently as I was being interviewed the current professor went into labor…she's gone on maternity leave."

"But how did  _you_  end up with the job?" he shook his head.

"The headmaster had to go check on the professor who was still in the classroom and it was in chaos. Stupidly I corrected something on the board from a homework assignment they were working on and the headmaster decided I could fit the bill, so to speak," she rubbed her head, thinking of the transcript, "I was trying to avoid having to deal with the boys of that school."

"By getting a job  _in_  the school?" Martha laughed.

"Well what sort of self respecting college student actually uses the library?"

The Doctor just laughed at that and turned to Martha, "And which shop did you get a job in?"

"It's a nice flower shop down the street," she answered, "Really not a fan of grease or exhaust so I took the first shop I could find."

He nodded, before frowning, Martha was currently grinning broadly at something, "What?"

Martha looked away, "Nothing."

The Doctor shook his head and turned to Evy curious to see what she was planning to teach. Martha glanced back, her smile growing as she saw that the Doctor, though seemingly unaware, had taken and was holding Evy's hand in his own.

~8~

"Morning," Evy yawned as she poured Martha a cup of tea.

They had been there about a month now and had settled into their jobs nicely. Apparently, when word went round that Evy had taken over the physics class there was a huge shift in class attendance. The lecture hall was now filled with young men. Evy was determined to think that it had to do with her lesson plans and teaching style, but Martha thought it may be her wardrobe.

It seemed all sorts of professions during that time had little to do with a dress code. As long as you actually showed up most employers could care less if you arrived in your birthday suit. They'd gone out to get some clothing more appropriate for the time since it seemed like they might be there longer than the Doctor thought. They had arrived at the beginning of February and weren't sure exactly when this Billy boy would be showing up, they just knew it was before the moon landing, which was still months away.

Both girls had been more than a little uncomfortable with the clothing that was available to them. The skirts were far too short for them to feel at all comfortable, but that was the fashion of the time. Martha had seemed to gravitate towards the turtlenecks and long sleeved shirts with a skirt and braces with matching leggings and go-go boots. Her hair was often slicked back but poofed out in the back. Evy, on the other hand, had ended up with a sort of tunic style dress that was a bit too short for her tastes. She hadn't been able to find any skirts or leggings that seemed to work for her though so she was stuck with just the tunic dress. She'd opted out of go-go boots as she claimed her legs were a bit skinnier than the boots and made it seem like her legs were swimming in them. As a result, flats were all she'd been able to wear. She'd also left her hair entirely down, held back a bit by a scarf she'd turned into a headband.

Another interesting turn of events that arose from their wardrobe was a particular reaction from the Doctor. Martha loved watching him whenever Evy was in the room. His eyes would immediately go to her and follow her around, wandering more than a few times towards her legs. He often seemed to get a bit tongue tied whenever she would talk to him as well. It was the most amusing thing Martha had ever seen from the Doctor so far.

She grinned into her cup of tea as she saw the Doctor was sitting on the sofa, seeming to be reading, but staring at Evy from the corner of his eye.

"He's staring at you again," she muttered quietly from behind her cup.

"No he's not," Evy replied, not looking.

"He is. I swear it."

Evy hesitated a moment before looking over to see the Doctor quickly look back down at his book as he had, indeed, been staring at her.

"Martha…" she sighed.

She was well aware of what Martha was trying to do. She'd always comment on Evy's outfit for the day, pulling the Doctor's attention to her, and then she would always leave early for the shop to give them time alone. She would set their small table so that the Doctor had to sit across from her…it was starting to get her. She'd asked Martha more than a few times to stop it, but it seemed Martha had taken to becoming temporarily deaf during those conversations.

"I know, I know," Martha rolled her eyes, "It's just...it's  _adorable_."

Evy shook her head at her friend before setting her cup in the sink to wash later and gathering up some books, "I should be back the same time as always," she called before heading to the door.

"Oi!" Martha shouted, "Are we still on for lunch?"

"Of course," Evy smiled. Martha's schedule had recently been shifted, giving her a lunch break the same time as Evy and the two had agreed to do lunch together. Evy turned to the Doctor pointing at him, "You. Stay."

He pouted and looked back at his book as Evy left.

"It's your own fault you know," Martha laughed at him, "You just  _had_  to go out and try and buy a new light bulb…why you felt you needed the coil of the first one I'll never know."

"It should have acted as a…"

"I don't need to know either," Martha cut him off quickly, knowing how he could ramble, "I really,  _really_  don't."

She picked up her apron and went to leave as well, locking the door behind her. She shook her head, recalling exactly  _why_  the Doctor was no longer allowed out of the apartment.

It had been only a week ago when he'd taken to trying to make…something…not even Evy knew what it was...and ended up breaking all the light bulbs in the flat. He'd then gone about trying to find a store to buy some more from and ended up on a farm half a mile away being arrested for disturbing the peace.

They were still trying to figure out how that one happened.

~8~

"Is it very hard?" Martha asked as she and Evy walked down the street, both eating an ice cream, about a week before mid-semester break was to start.

"Is what?" Evy asked.

"Having to pretend. I mean, I knew about the Angels because you told me, but then to pretend like I didn't? Like I wasn't scared out of my mind about this thing trying to kill me with my eyes closed…how do you do it? You know everything he does, don't you?"

Evy sighed, "Everything he learned about time and history and science I learned as well on Gallifrey, and everything he's learned from his travels I know because I've experienced it through the Link. But it's too important for me to not seem like I do to just let it slip."

"Why is that?" she looked at Evy, "I mean, I know why you don't want him to Link to you just yet, but...can't you tell him you're a Time Lady? You don't have to say you're his Link, but just...so he knows he's not alone?"

Evy hesitated a moment, "I'm...selfish."

"What?" Martha laughed. Evy was probably the least selfish person on the planet.

She bit her lip, trying to find the words to explain her hesitance in telling the Doctor, "He just lost Rose yeah?" Martha nodded, "I...I don't want him discovering I'm a Time Lady to be overshadowed by that...if that makes any sense at all."

"Not really. No."

She laughed, "He's lost someone he cares for. I...I don't want him to confuse those feelings, that loss of...of, well, love...to be put on me for the wrong reasons."

Martha stared at her, "You're afraid you'll be like a...rebound?"

"Of sorts," she nodded, "It's mad, I know. But...I want him to want me to stay, to travel with him, not because I'm a Time Lady...but because...I'm Evy," she looked at Martha, " _I_  want to be the reason I stay and not what I am. I don't want him to take me along because I'm the last of our species. I want him to take me along because he enjoys my company, or because I'm interesting, or just because..."

"Because he just wants to," Martha nodded, understanding. She hadn't wanted to be taken along as Rose's replacement, she just wanted to be taken along as Martha. She understood perfectly.

"I...I also don't want him to start to like me because I'm a Time Lady," she added, "I don't want him to try and force any feelings because I'm like him. We're the last of our kind, but I don't want  _that_  to be the reason he loves me, if he ever does. I...I don't want to influence him. I don't want the fact that I'm a Time Lady to be a cause for him to try and force any feelings. Like I said, I want him to want mefor  _me_ , for my mind and my personality and my hearts, and not because I'm a  _Time Lady_ ," she sighed, "It's why I'm hiding who I am even though I know it kills him to think we're all dead. I don't want him to hurt, but...I don't want to be hurt either. Especially not by him. It's why I have to try and be human, why I have to be very careful about what I say or do around him..."

"Must be frustrating," Martha remarked, reaching out to take Evy's hand, squeezing it. She wanted to be loved for  _who_  she was, not  _what_  she was, it was understandable. She wanted her own special connection with the Doctor outside of the Link, outside of being a Time Lady, just as Evy. She also knew, given what Evy had told her about the Link and what could develop from it, this was probably just as much about trying to see what sort of relationship might develop on its own. If the Doctor gave any sign that he might feel even slight romantic feelings for Evy, then there was a chance that he might develop more romantic feelings for her once the Link had formed. A woman's heart is a fragile thing, it was no wonder Evy was even more protective of it, having two of them.

"Oh it is," Evy laughed, smiling at Martha, thankful that the woman was trying to steer the conversation away from that topic slightly, "I may have an idea of how to help out or I may see something he's missed, but I can't say anything because if I do it might be just that little thing that tips him off. If I give him too much to notice about me then it won't matter if I'm wearing the Filter or not, he'll figure it out."

Martha laughed at that.

"What?" Evy frowned.

"Nothing it's just…" she gave her a look, "Giving him too much to notice? All he's done since we got here is notice you."

"No he hasn't."

"Really…" Martha raised an eyebrow, "So the fact that the man who can read a whole book with just a quick flip through is always sitting there reading in the morning while you make breakfast and have your tea but never even turns a page wasn't the least bit suspicious? Evy come on, if the man was any less obvious he would be drooling whenever you walk into a room."

"It's just the clothes," she grumbled, "These skirts are far from decent."

"Don't I know it. But it's not _just_  the clothes you know."

"…it's not?" she asked, she'd really been trying to keep her distance from the Doctor so as not to confuse his feelings, wanting them to develop natrually, but it seemed like doing that was keeping her from noticing other things.

Martha rolled her eyes, "You want the list?"

Evy sighed, "You're going to give it to me anyway."

"Too right I am," she laughed, "He holds your hand as soon as he's close enough to you to reach it. Whenever he sees you he just smiles. He always asks you how your day was first. When he's wishing us good night before we head to bed, you're the only one he gives a hug too. And have you noticed how your tea cup is always washed and put away when you get back, even though you set it aside to clean it yourself?"

Evy was silent for a moment, "Really?"

Martha smiled at her, "Yeah."

"I've got to get back," Evy said suddenly, looking down at her watch, "Class starts soon and they've got a test coming up."

"Evy…" Martha called, but Evy had already walked past the gates. She sighed. That girl was convinced that any sort of romantic gesture or inkling the Doctor felt was a result of the Link trying to form when the man had been human. She just couldn't see that, maybe, just maybe, it was all the Doctor. That maybe the stirrings of the Link were just allowing him to see and notice more of her than the Filter had previously allowed. From what Evy had told her, the Link only created a connection, not feelings, but the girl was determined to believe that the love that John Smith had felt was his human mind misinterpreting the Link as love and that it would carry over to the Doctor. She seemed to forget that the Doctor wasn't John Smith, his mind would confuse such a thing as connection with love...

Now if she could just get Evy to see that.

~8~

Two weeks later, just as April began, the Doctor had finally determined it was time to leave the clues for Sally. They walked through town and back to the old house, looking just a little better than it had been the last time they saw it.

They cautiously walked through the house but soon felt a bit more at ease when they saw that the Angels weren't there. They must have been moved there at a later time.

Martha and Evy carried the wallpaper and glue while the Doctor handled the black paint. All they had to do was leave the message just as Sally's photographs demonstrated. Nothing too hard. They were done in no time.

BEWARE THE WEEPING ANGEL! OH, AND DUCK! REALLY, DUCK! SALLY SPARROW DUCK, NOW!

Followed by a nice little signature: LOVE FROM THE DOCTOR (1969)

Then Evy had grabbed the brush and added her and Martha to the wall as the writing in the picture was a different handwriting than the Doctor's.

~8~

The girls were walking down the streets of town a few days later, Martha currently laughing at a story Evy was telling her of some ridiculous thing the Doctor had done on one of his adventures in the past. It was so refreshing to hear funny and embarrassing stories about the Doctor especially when, most of the time, he was always the suave-ish hero.

"He didn't!" Martha gasped.

"Oh, he did," Evy giggled as well, holding onto her cup of tea to go from the local café. It was bit of a chilly night and it kept her hands warm, "And then later he goes, 'I let you keep Mickey!'"

Martha turned to her about to ask something when she let out a startled yelp, disappearing into the alley they'd just passed.

"Martha!" Evy shouted, running down it to a dead end where a dirty looking man was holding a knife out at Martha.

She didn't even think…

Martha stared wide eyed as the man who had just abducted her was thrown into the wall with a sickening thud, as though he'd just been tackled from the side but no one was there. She watched as he crumpled to the floor before looking over to see Evy, hunched over, quite a few feet away, before she fell to her knees.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Doctor, always blowing things up and disturbing the peace lol.
> 
> Next chapter will finally reveal, for sure, what Evy's secret ability is and how it developed along with information on her family. Not to mention, there's a very sweet scene between the Doctor and Evy that the Doctor initiates (finally! right?). Also! There will be a small, tiny reference to the Academic Series, a joke, of something the Professor seemed fond of doing :) Virtual cookie to fans of the series who spot it!


	15. Blink (Part 2)

"Evy!" Martha shouted, running to her fallen friend's side just as she wiped her nose, it was bleeding again.

"Are you alright?" Evy croaked, her voice a bit sore.

"I'm fine, but what about you?" she asked, lifting her head to look at the trail of blood flowing from her nose, "What happened?"

"Nothing," Evy mumbled, wiping her nose once more as she pushed herself to stand, resting a hand against the wall of the alley.

"It's not nothing," Martha grabbed her arm to keep her from walking off, "This happened before Evy, with Lazarus. Don't think I didn't notice. I'm not an alien, the Perception Filter doesn't work on me. Your nose just started bleeding then and…" her eyes widened as she looked at the man lying unconscious in the alley, "…and a table went flying at him just before…" she turned back to Evy, "Evy, what's going on?"

Evy looked down.

"Is it some sort of Time Lord thing?" Martha guessed.

Evy rubbed her head, already feeling a headache forming, "Come on," she linked her arm with Martha and led her out of the alley, back towards the street.

"Evy…"

"There's something I haven't told you, I haven't even told the Doctor," she cut in, "Just before you two came to Cardiff and took me with you, I was stuck in this institute. The Mason Institute…it was mental institution."

"Why?"

"That doesn't really matter," Evy waved her off and Martha could sense it was something she didn't want to relive so she didn't press it, "While I was there they had me on a whole mix of medications and drugs…some of which really messed up how my mind usually worked. Somehow…I was able to access a part of my mind that had been locked away. I found out that, if I concentrate and tap into that part of my brain, I can make things move. I sort of knocked over Ianto's cup of tea once and held out my hand to try and stop it, and it just hovered there, frozen in mid-air, for a minute before it crashed and my nose started bleeding."

"Like telekinesis?" Martha frowned.

"Something like that."

"Well, that's handy," Martha smiled, but Evy just shook her head.

"No, it's really not," she sighed, "I don't like using it."

"Why?"

"Massive headaches, enormous stress on my body, strain on my mind, nosebleeds…it's not an ability Time Lords are meant to have…at least not yet. Maybe in the future when we'd evolved more, but now…now it could be damaging to use it."

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Martha asked after a moment, "To use it?"

She nodded, "It usually depends on the size and weight of whatever I'm trying to move and how long I keep it going."

"Then why did you use it?" Martha frowned, thinking about the fully grown man she'd just sent flying into a wall.

"You were in danger," she said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I just reacted and that was the quickest way to help you, to get him to stop."

"Well…don't do that again," Martha scolded her lightly, "If I'm ever held at knife point again just…I don't know, throw your shoe at him or something."

That got a laugh out of her, "You sound just like my brother."

"What, your brother asked you to throw things at people?" Martha laughed as well.

"No," she smiled softly, "He was just...very protective of me. Always worrying over me."

Martha's smile faded, recalling what the Doctor had told her of the war, neither of them had really said much about their families, "You had a brother?"

She nodded, "Yeah...he...um, disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"They never found him."

Martha's eyes widened, "Do you think he might have escaped?" she asked, growing excited, hopeful, "If you could then maybe he did? Especially if he disappeared and..."

"A lot of people 'disappeared,'" Evy cut in, clearing her throat a bit, "His platoon was ordered to perform a reconnaissance mission on the Daleks, to look at their last base and see if they'd left anything behind, plans of some sort...it was booby trapped, with bombs," she looked away, "More people than you care to know about 'disappeared' during the bombing."

"I...I'm sorry," Martha breathed, realizing that it was easier for Evy to say that her brother had 'disappeared' rather than that he'd died. She couldn't even imagine losing her brother or her sister in such a horrible fashion, "Evy, I'm  _so_  sorry."

"It's alright," Evy took a breath, "I was recalled from the war after word reached my parents."

"Why?" Martha asked, feeling so badly for her friend, knowing that Evy had fought in such a terrible war, lost so much, just like the Doctor, "Why were you called out?"

"Our families, on Gallifrey, operated based on a system of matriarchs and patriarchs," she explained, "The first born became the head of the collective family, and their first born took over after, like that, but it only followed the patriarch's family. If the first born child died, then, the patriarch or matriarch's next born child would take up the position. My father was our patriarch, and my brother was older than me so when he died, I was recalled to preserve the family's traditions and the family line. My cousins were still out there, fighting, but I was called back. They wouldn't have been called back unless something happened to me as well, my brother was my only sibling."

Her father had been a member of the council on Gallifrey, not the High Council, but still on the general council. He hadn't been allowed to participate in the last stretch of the war as he was on his last body, no regeneration afterwards. It was a rule that those with no remaining regenerations not sit on council, if they died then everything they knew had to be taught to another family member without it coming from the head of the family himself. In such a case, the council member's heir would be called in to sit on the council, having their parent as an advisor of sorts till the mantle could be taken up by the heir. It was the only reason they'd tried to call her brother out of battle and discovered his platoon had been destroyed. She'd hoped, vainly, that he was still alive somewhere. That he was just hurt and lost...they never had found his body...but, they hadn't found half his platoon's bodies either. The bombs had been that powerful. After a few months, she knew he was gone. He wouldn't just leave her to face the horrors of the war and the responsibilities of the council alone.

Her mother had been an architect, responsible for helping design the buildings and structures around their planet. Monuments and housing and meeting areas and parks. Her father, a politician, had been President of Gallifrey for a brief time, before Romana had returned from E-Space and taken over that position, only to be deposed by Rassilon near the end of the war. Her father had been Romana's advisor before Rassilon had returned and everything fell apart. She had been in the council when Rassilon had given the news that the High Council had agreed to authorize the Final Sanction, a plan to rip the Vortex apart to destroy all of creation, leaving the Time Lords alive as a consiousness. She'd gone to her father with the news hoping he'd be able to use the information, use whatever resources he'd gathered from his time as President, to do something. And he certainly had.

"I am sorry though," Martha said, cutting off her thoughts.

She smiled at Martha, "Me too."

They slowed as they reached the flat, Evy double checking that all the blood was gone from under her nose so that the Doctor wouldn't worry. She was fairly certain she'd gotten it all, which was why she was so surprised when they entered the apartment only to be pulled into a bone crushing hug by the Doctor.

"Doctor?" Martha asked as he finally let them go.

"Are you alright?" he asked, giving them both the onceover, frowning when he saw that Evy seemed a bit paler than usual but, other than that, seemed fine.

"We're fine," Evy replied, shaking her head at him, confused, "Why? What's wrong?"

"Oh, well, nothing then," he tried to smile though they could see it was tense, "I just…well, it's silly..."

"Sometimes silly can be brilliant," Evy said before her eyes widened as she realized she had said the same thing to John Smith.

The Doctor didn't seem to notice though, "Well, I just…I had this sudden fear that something had happened to you two."

"Really?" Martha asked, tense, glancing at Evy who shook her head, though she looked equally as shocked that he'd managed to pick up on her fear, for that was the only explanation for it.

"Like you were in danger," he replied, before shrugging it off, "Probably just that show…" he nodded to the TV where some old horror movie or something to that affect was playing.

"We  _really_  have to hope Billy gets here soon," Evy commented to Martha, shaking her head as the Doctor went back to watching the TV. It seemed he was quickly becoming addicted to it.

~8~

"…an idealized object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation falling on it," Evy explained clearly as she sat on top of her desk in the classroom of the university, a book with marked notes resting on her crossed legs as she followed her notes with her finger and eyes, "Black bodies absorb and incandescently re-emit radiation in a continuous spectrum. Because no light, or visible electromagnetic radiation, is reflected or transmitted, the object appears black when it is cold. However, a black body emits a temperature-dependent spectrum of light. This thermal radiation from a black body is termed blackbody radiation. In the blackbody spectrum, the shorter the wavelength, the higher the freq..."

The bell rang and Evy looked up to see the students staring at her. She smiled, "For homework, I want each of you to read up on Plank's theory of blackbody radiation. Yes, it will be on your exam in a few weeks."

The few girls in the class began to pack up while the boys continued to look at her, "That's all," she stated as the boys finally jogged into action and packed up as well. Just then the door opened and her eyes widened to see the Doctor enter the room.

What was he doing there? She'd explicitly told him to stay in the flat! Just last week he'd set off the fire alarms throughout the whole complex when he tried to make tea and ended up actually burning the water. After that, she'd ordered him to remain on the sofa and not leave it till she or Martha got back from their jobs.

"Hello!" he greeted her, grinning, walking over to her, ignoring all the glares he was getting from the men of the class.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, glaring at him.

"I couldn't sit there all day," he explained quickly, holding up his hands in defense, "I couldn't stare at my failure any longer."

"Your... _what_?" she dropped her voice.

That could only mean one thing.

"We...we may need to buy a new toaster," he admitted.

"Doctor!" she hissed. This was the  _fifth_  toaster in the last  _two_   _weeks_.

"I was trying to make a Temporal Anomaly Detector," he muttered, "That way we would know when Billy gets here."

Evy just shook her head, "You really are insufferable you know that?" she asked, jumping off the desk and walking behind it.

"What?" he asked, watching her. She leaned over and opened a rather big drawer and pulled out some sort of device.

"You could have just  _asked_  me," she rolled her eyes, laying her own crudely made Temporal Anomaly Detector out for him to see.

His eyes widened, "What?"

"Your very own timey-wimey detector," she pushed it towards him.

"What?"

"It goes ding," she said slowly as though explaining it to a child, "When something that doesn't belong in this time arrives."

"I know...I know what it does," he shook his head, leaning forward to examine it. It seemed like it could actually work, "I just...how? Every time I tried to make one the most I could do was boil an egg from a few feet away."

She laughed, she and Martha had  _finally_  figured out how he'd been 'disturbing the peace' a few months ago. Let's just say, the local farmers were  _not_  happy and they had to pay for a whole mess of chickens.

"Oh, it does that too," she smiled, "But really Doctor, leave the building to the professionals yeah?"

He just laughed before walking around the desk to hug her. Perhaps he'd held onto her a bit longer than necessary because when he looked up there was an army of very unhappy collegiate boys staring at him.

"You're going to be late for your next class," Evy called to them, "Off you pop!"

The boys slowly filed out of the room, each sending a death glare at the Doctor. Evy just barely managed to hide her smirk, they probably thought she was taken now. Thank God. If she had to have  _one more_  boy come up to her and ask for a 'private study session' she was going to invent some sort of bomb early.

"You really shouldn't do that," he mumbled.

"Do what?" she frowned.

"That," he nodded at her outfit. She was currently sporting a long sleeved, tunic style dress with a short hem that was pink and tie-dyed.

"What's wrong with it?" she looked up at him.

"They were...they were  _staring_  at you," he grumbled, now glaring at the last of the boys walking out, "They were all eyeing you like you were some sort of piece of meat they wanted to drag off somewhere. It was  _disgusting_!"

"Doctor, it's alright," she reached out and laid a hand on his arm but the cold look remained on his face.

"No! It's not alright," he turned to look at her, "The way they were  _looking_  at you..."

"Doctor," she shook her head, smiling at his reaction, it was sweet, "They're just boys, it's not like they could do anything."

"It wouldn't stop them from trying," he sighed, running a hand through his hair, frustrated.

She laughed, "As though I would let them."

Her laughter seemed to pull him from his thoughts as he turned to look at her fully. It may have just been the light from the setting late-April sun streaming into the classroom but for that one moment he could swear she was glowing. He reached out, tucking a strand of hair that had fallen out of her tie-dyed bandana behind her ear. Unable to stop himself he allowed himself to gently stroke her cheek, just looking at her softly.

Evy inhaled at the sensation but before she could do anything or say anything, something beeped from beside her.

Both she and the Doctor looked over to see the TAD was whirring.

Something was coming.

~8~

They had swung round the flower shop to get Martha before they all headed out, following the TAD, hoping it was Billy they would find, as Sally's notes had indicated.

They walked through a door by an alleyway just as a black male fell back against the wall, falling to the ground out of nowhere.

"Welcome!" the Doctor called, walking over.

"Where am I?" Billy asked.

"1969," Evy answered as the device in the Doctor's hands beeped.

"Not bad, as it goes," the Doctor commented, "You've got the moon landing to look forward to."

"Oh, the moon landing's brilliant," Martha smiled, "We went four times."

"Yeah, when we had a lovely little thing called transport..." Evy added.

"Working on it!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"How did I get here?" Billy frowned.

"The same way we did," he replied, sitting down next to the man, "The touch of an Angel."

"1969, so most likely the same one," Evy shrugged.

Billy moved to get up but the Doctor forced him back, "No, no, no, no, no, don't get up. Time travel without a capsule, nasty. Catch your breath, don't go swimming for half an hour."

"I don't," Billy mumbled, "I can't."

"Fascinating race, the Weeping Angels. The only psychopaths in the Universe to kill you nicely. No mess, no fuss, they just zap you into the past and let you live to death. The rest of your life used up and blown away in the blink of an eye. You die in the past, and in the present they consume the energy of all the days you might have had, all your stolen moments. They're creatures of the abstract. They live off potential energy."

"What in God's name are you talking about?"

"Trust me," Martha cut in, "Just nod when he stops for breath."

"Just nod in general," Evy smiled, "He rarely ever stops to breathe anyway."

"Hey!" the Doctor grumbled before turning to Billy, holding up the TAD, "Tracked you down with this. This is my…" Evy coughed, "I mean, Evy's timey-wimey detector which she made for me," he smiled up at her, "It goes ding when there's stuff. Also, it can boil an egg at 30 paces, whether you want it to or not, actually, so I've learned to stay away from hens. It's not pretty when they blow."

"I don't understand," Billy shook his head, "Where am I?"

"1969, like they said," Martha answered.

"Normally, I'd offer you a lift home, but somebody nicked my motor," the Doctor shrugged before turning serious, "So I need you to take a message to Sally Sparrow. And I'm sorry, Billy, I am very, very sorry. It's gonna take you a while."

~8~

Once they'd helped get Billy all set up, they decided it was time to film the conversation they would have with Sally. It only made sense. They might not be there for long after Billy got there and they needed to make sure he had a copy of the filmed conversation with him.

"Are you sure you know how to handle that?" the Doctor asked for the millionth time as he looked at Evy holding the camera.

Evy rolled her eyes, "Doctor, it's a camera. You hold it still as it records. Not much to it."

He nodded, "And the autocue?"

"All set up with the conversation," Evy smiled as Martha wheeled it over and got it ready.

"Everything set?" Martha asked, looking up.

"Let's get going," the Doctor said as they nodded.

Evy switched the camera on and nodded to the Doctor to begin.

He waited patiently as the autocue began to roll...

~8~

"The Doctor," Sally Sparrow breathed, staring at the laptop screen with the DVD Easter egg playing.

"Who's the Doctor?" her friend Larry frowned.

"He's the Doctor," Sally pointed to the laptop.

"Yep," the Doctor nodded on the screen, "That's me."

"Okay, that was scary..."

"No, it sounds like he's replying, but he always says that," Larry shook his head.

"Yes, I do," the Doctor agreed.

"And that."

"Yep, and this."

"He can hear us," Sally's eyes widened, "Oh, my God, you can really hear us!"

"Of course he can't hear us," Larry laughed, getting out a notebook he'd brought with him, "Look! I've got a transcript, see, everything he says. 'Yep, that's me.' 'Yes, I do.' 'Yep, and this.' Next it's..."

"Are you going to read out the whole thing?" they both said together.

"Sorry," Larry apologized.

"Who are you?" Sally wondered out loud, looking at the screen.

"I'm a time traveler," the Doctor answered, "Or I was. I'm stuck in 1969."

A throat cleared off screen before a black woman walked into the frame, squatting next to him, " _We're_  stuck. All of space and time he promised me. Now I've got a job in a shop and Evy's hounded by hormonal collegiate boys!  _We've_  got to support  _him_!"

"Martha!"

"She's got a point," someone behind the camera called.

"Evy!" he glared at the screen, though they could tell it was at the person holding the camera.

"Sorry," Martha mumbled, walking off.

"I've seen this bit before," Sally shook her head.

"Quite possibly," the Doctor turned back to the conversation.

"1969, that's where you're talking from?"

"'Fraid so."

"But you're replying to me. You can't know exactly what I'm gonna say, 40 years before I say it!"

"38," the Doctor shrugged.

"Technically 37 years and 8 months," Evy commented from behind the camera, the Doctor just gave her a look, "What?"

"I'm getting this down!" Larry pulled out a pen, sitting down so he could get this, "I'm writing in your bits."

"How?" Sally continued to talk to the screen, "How is this possible? Tell me!"

"Not so fast!"

"People don't understand time," the person behind the camera answered before the Doctor could even open his mouth, "It's not what you think it is."

"Then what is it?" Sally asked.

"Complicated," the Doctor said this time.

"Tell me."

"Very complicated."

"I'm clever and I'm listening. And don't patronize me because people have died, and I'm not happy. Tell me."

"I like her," Evy commented.

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect," the Doctor sighed, Sally frowned as the camera shifted a bit as though it were changing hands but still focused on the Doctor, "But actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint…"

Suddenly another woman walked onto the screen, a pale girl with brown hair and green eyes who moved next to the Doctor to stare at the camera, "It's basically a giant ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff."

"Evy!" the Doctor turned to look at her, not seeming bothered by how close their faces were to have to share the camera space.

"What?" Evy demanded, "Do you have any idea how many people can't understand you when you slip into your tangents about time? I'm helping the poor girl."

Sally laughed when this Evy girl rolled her eyes and walked off screen. The camera shifted again, probably as Martha handed the camera back to Evy.

"Yeah, I've seen this bit before," Sally remarked as the Doctor seemed to focus back on the camera, "You said that sentence got away from you."

"It got away from me, yeah," he agreed, though she could tell he was still a bit distracted by the Evy girl.

"Next thing you're going to say is, 'Well, I  _can_  hear you.'"

"Well, I  _can_  hear you," he told her, snapping back to the conversation entirely.

"This isn't possible," Sally shook her head.

"No," Larry called, "It's brilliant!"

"Not hear you exactly, but I know everything you're going to say," he told her.

"Always gives me the shivers, that bit."

"How can you know what I'm going to say?" Sally frowned.

"Look to your left," the Doctor nodded to his right, which was her left.

She looked over to see Larry sitting there, writing in the transcript, "What does he mean by, 'Look to your left?'" the man mumbled, "I've written tons about that on the forums. I think it's a political statement."

"He means you," she watched him a moment, "What are you doing?"

"I'm writing in your bits," he told her, showing her his shorthand, "So I've got a complete transcript of the whole conversation. Wait until this hits the net. This will explode the egg forums."

"I've got a copy of the finished transcript," the Doctor's voice drifted over to them, "Martha's put it on my Autocue."

"How can you have a copy of the finished transcript?" Sally looked back over, "It is still being written."

"I told you. I'm a time traveler. I got it in the future."

"Okay, let me get my head 'round this. You're reading from a transcript of a conversation you're still having?"

"Like Evy said, wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey," he waved her off before blinking and smiling, "Oh, I like that! I should use that!" he pointed at the camera, at Evy.

"Fantastic," Evy mumbled sarcastically.

"Actually, never mind that," Sally turned to Larry, "You can do shorthand?"

"So?" he shrugged.

"What matters is we can communicate," the Doctor said, focusing on the matter at hand once more, "We have got big problems now. They've taken the blue box, haven't they? The Angels have the phone box."

Evy laughed behind the camera, "I'm so putting that on a t-shirt."

Larry was laughing too and nodding, "That's my favorite, I  _have_  got it on a t-shirt!"

"What do you mean, 'Angels?'" Sally frowned, "You mean those statue things?"

"Creatures from another world," Evy commented as the Doctor nodded.

"But they're just statues," Sally shook her head.

"Only when you see them," the Doctor explained.

"What does that mean?"

"Lonely assassins, they were called. No one knows where they came from. They're as old as the Universe, or very nearly. They've survived this long as they have the most perfect defense system ever evolved."

"A quantum lock," Evy added, off screen, "In which something observed doesn't exist. The moment another living creature sees them, they turn to stone."

"No choice," the Doctor nodded, "It's a fact of their biology. In the sight of any living thing, they literally turn to stone. And you can't kill a stone."

"Of course, a stone can't kill you either," Evy said, trying to lighten the mood just a bit…but then the Doctor had to kill it.

"But then you turn your head away, then you blink, and oh, yes it can!"

"Nice Doctor," Evy sighed, "Just scare the poor girl."

"Don't take your eyes off that," Sally instructed Larry.

"That's why they cover their eyes," the Doctor told them, ignoring Evy, "They're not weeping, they can't risk looking at each other. Their greatest asset is their greatest curse. They can never be seen. The loneliest creatures in the Universe. And I'm sorry, I am very,  _very_  sorry, it's up to you now."

"What am I supposed to do?" Sally breathed.

"The blue box, it's my time machine. There is a world of time energy in there they could feast on forever. The damage they can do can switch off the sun. You have got to send it back to me!"

"How? How?"

"And that's it, I'm afraid," the Doctor said after a moment, "There's no more from you on the transcript, that's all I've got. I dunno what stopped you talking, but I can guess. They're coming. The Angels are coming for you. But listen, your life could depend on this. Don't blink! Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink!"

"Good luck!" the two girls called from behind the camera as the scene froze.

~8~

The Doctor gave the copy of the one-sided conversation to Billy the next morning along with a list of 17 movies and 17 special disks that had been configured to act as a 'free ride' in the TARDIS to record on once DVDs were invented.

Now all they could do was wait…and wait…and wait…it had been two weeks since the filming.

They had been there a little more than three months. The semester had just finished for Evy, who was more than a bit relieved that she would never have to see that particular group of boys again. Though, she  _would_  miss the walks with the Doctor. She only taught classes twice a week but every time her last class let out the Doctor would be there, waiting for her. They would swing round to pick up Martha and then all head home to their flat to have dinner and watch some shows.

But all in all, they were getting a bit antsy to return home, which was why, when the Doctor ran into the bedroom at 3:57 in the morning to say that the TAD had beeped, they were not at all mad. They gathered up all their things as quick as they could and ran out of the flat, following the beeping of the TAD until they came to the drive of the abandoned house where the TARDIS was now materializing.

"Oh my God!" Martha exclaimed in relief before her smile dimmed, seeing Evy wincing, "What's wrong?"

"She is  _so_  furious right now," Evy whispered to the girl who now saw that the Doctor looked in even more pain as the TARDIS psychicly projected what could only be described as irritation, "She's not very happy with him, probably for purposely letting her get captured by the Angels."

Martha grimaced as the door to the TARDIS almost slammed on the Doctor's hands just after he'd opened it.

"I'm sorry alright!" he shouted at the old box, "How about I have Evy fix something? Would that cheer you up?"

Evy just shook her head, she could 'fix' the TARDIS all she wanted but that box would still be simmering at him long after she was done.

The Doctor sighed, seeming to sense this, before turning to the girls, "Come on, we've got to stop back in Cardiff and recharge, the Angels managed to drain her a bit."

"Are we going to be facing more lizards?" Martha asked.

"No," he shook his head, trying to shove open the door which was now being held shut against him, "Should only take about 20 seconds this time."

"Allow me Doctor," Evy smiled, walking forward. She just reached out and pushed lightly on the doors, which gently swung open.

"But…how…what?" he stammered.

"She likes me better," Evy sang, before stepping in, "Us girls must stick together!"

Martha laughed, following behind her, knowing the TARDIS probably would have opened for her as well, as the two women had nothing to do with the Doctor's plan to get killed by the Weeping Angels.

The Doctor sighed and followed them, jumping as the door swung shut, nipping him in the bum just after he stepped through the threshold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm...the TARDIS certainly seems to like Evy better, can you imagine Idris? And now we know, Evy is telekinetic, virtual cupcakes to those who guessed it first! And virtual cookies to those who spot the Academic Series reference, hint: it's a line spoken by Martha near the beginning of this chapter :)
> 
> I cannot wait for the Master to appear. And...I just realized that I've been giving hints about the next chapters in the last few chapters I've written. I think I'll continue that, what do you think? I feel sort of bad that these episodes are broken in two, but I do feel like it gives people time to catch up if they fall behind and I try to break them during 'cliffhanger' moments. Think of these sneak previews as another way to make up for the splits :)
> 
> Next chapter we get an odd connection between two characters and, what's this about a naked Jack?


	16. Utopia (Part 1)

The TARDIS reappeared in Cardiff just as the Doctor had said it would after dealing with the Angels, him rushing around the console as Martha and Evy watched.

"Cardiff," he smiled.

"Cardiff?" Martha asked, she still wasn't sure why Cardiff was such an important stop for the Doctor.

"It's built on a rift in time and space," Evy laughed at her confused expression, "Like the fault lines in California, San Andreas..."

"The rift  _bleeds_  energy," the Doctor explained, "Every now and then I need to open up the engines, soak up the energy, and use it as fuel."

"So it's a pit stop," Martha nodded, following.

"Exactly," the Doctor and Evy said at the same time, earning a laugh from the girl.

"Wait a minute…" she looked at the Doctor, "They had an Earthquake in Cardiff a couple years ago. Was that you?"

"Bit of trouble with the Slitheen," he grimaced, "Long time ago. Lifetimes. I was a different man back then," the TARDIS whirred, "Finito. All powered up."

Evy's smile widened as she saw Jack appear on the TARDIS monitor screen, but her smile fell as the Doctor's eyes widened, spotting the same thing, and he ran to start the TARDIS up.

"Doctor!" she shouted, seeing what he was about to do.

But he didn't listen. The TARDIS suddenly began to spark and shift around severely. They were thrown to the ground, thrown side to side as the TARDIS began to spin through space.

"What's that?" Martha shouted as she clung to the console, this was far worse than any of the trips the Doctor had piloted them on before.

The Doctor pushed himself up and ran to the monitor again, changing the settings to reveal their status, Evy appearing beside him as he frantically looked at the information the TARDIS was providing, not knowing that Evy was reading the rapid Gallifreyan along with him.

"We're accelerating…" his eyes widened, "Into the future. The year one billion. Five billion. Five trillion. 50 trillion. What? The year 100 trillion."

"That's impossible!" Evy shouted.

"Why?" Martha frowned, "What happens then?"

"We're going to the end of the Universe," the Doctor replied seriously.

The TARDIS landed with a thud, the group finally able to stand straight. The Doctor looked at Evy who was rubbing her forehead a bit.

"Everyone alright?" he asked.

"Fine," Martha answered.

"Yeah," Evy nodded, the faint phantom headache she'd felt already dimming.

"Well, we've landed…" the Doctor began.

"So what's out there?" Martha looked towards the door.

"I don't know."

"Say that again," Evy smiled, "That's rare."

"Not even the Time Lords came this far. We should leave. We should go. We should really, really…go…" he looked at them for a moment before they all grinned and raced towards the door.

It was bleak outside.

Dark.

Cold.

Silent.

It really did seem to be the end of the Universe.

"Oh my God!" Martha shouted before running over to a body lying a few feet away.

"Jack!" Evy called, walking over with the Doctor who remained a few feet away while Evy stepped closer.

"Can't get a pulse," Martha muttered, getting up and running towards the TARDIS, "Hold on, you've got that medical kit thing."

"Hello again," the Doctor said to the prone body, "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Here we go," Martha called, running back, shoving the Doctor out of the way to kneel next to Jack, "Out of the way," she frowned, finally seeing him, "It's a bit odd, though. Not very 100 trillion, that coat's more like World War II."

"I think he came with us."

"How d'you mean? From Earth?"

"He was  _clinging_  to the  _outside_  of the TARDIS all the way through the  _Vortex_ ," Evy answered, glaring up at the Doctor who shrugged. Evy shook her head and squatted down to look at Jack, "That's very him though."

"What?" Martha looked up, shocked. She'd met the man before, she now recalled, when they'd first met Evy, he'd been the one to contact them, to introduce them to Evy in the first place. She realized that Evy must know him very well and turned to her friend, "But he's…I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat. There's nothing."

Evy smirked, "Give it a moment."

Martha shook her head, "He's dead."

Suddenly Jack gasped for breath, coming back to life, grabbing Martha as she screamed. Her eyes widened as she saw he was alive.

"It's alright," she soothed, "Just breathe deep. I've got you now."

"Hello Jack," Evy smiled.

He glanced over to see her, the Doctor standing there as well, "Nice to see you again."

She reached out and grabbed his hand, helping to pull him to his feet, "Oh, here, before I forget," she pulled the Vortex Manipulator off her wrist and tossed it over to him, laughing as he kissed it and strapped it to his own wrist.

"Oh, I have  _missed_  you," he commented, checking the Manipulator over, grinning at Evy, "I felt naked without it."

"Thanks Jack, I  _really_  needed that mental image," Evy rolled her eyes, "I missed you too."

"Come here," he laughed, pulling her into a hug and spinning her around before setting her down, when he noticed the Doctor half glaring at him. He looked over at the Doctor coldly. Martha frowned, it was so different from how they had originally greeted each other when they'd met Evy. She looked over at Evy who just shook her head subtly, silently telling her not to ask, "Doctor."

"Captain," the Doctor greeted in return.

"Good to see you."

"And you," he replied, looking at him before smirking, saying what he wanted to say before he'd gotten distracted by figuring out how the man had called him to Cardiff, "Have you had work done?"

"You can talk!" Jack retorted before he grew serious again. He'd been waiting far too long to have this discussion with the Doctor. He'd put it off for Evy's sake, but now he wanted answers, "You abandoned me."

"Did I?" the Doctor grew grim again, "Busy life. Move on."

"Just gotta ask…the Battle of Canary Wharf. I saw the list of the dead. It said Rose Tyler."

"Oh no!" the Doctor finally smiled, "Sorry! She's alive!"

"You're kidding?" Jack's eyes widened. He'd contemplated asking Evy about everything, but she'd said it wouldn't be the same not coming from the Doctor and, reluctantly, he'd agreed. He'd kept his comments to himself, kept his questions unanswered, for her sake, so that he wouldn't offend the Doctor and ruin Evy's chances of travelling with him. He'd kept a lot to himself for her, but it was worth it...because she was smiling.

"Parallel world safe and sound," the Doctor told him, making him smile as well, "And Mickey! And her mother!"

"Oh yes!" Jack jolted forward and hugged the Doctor, laughing in joy at the happy news.

Martha looked over at Evy, worried about how she would react to the mention of Rose. But Evy was just smiling softly, just happy the two men were happy.

~8~

Their small group was walking along the planet, trying to see if there was anyone around, Jack explaining more about himself to Martha as they went. Though every now and then he would glance ahead at the Doctor who was walking hand-in-hand with Evy, though seeming as though he hadn't even noticed he was doing it.

"So there I was, stranded in the year 200-100, ankle deep in Dalek dust, and he goes off without me," Jack laughed, "But I had this…" he tapped the newly affixed Manipulator, not sure how much Evy or the Doctor had told the human about it, "I used to be a Time Agent. It's called a Vortex Manipulator. He's not the only one who can time travel."

"Oh, excuse me," the Doctor shouted over his shoulder, "That is _not_  time travel. It's like I've got a sports car and you've got a space hopper."

"Boys and their toys," Evy laughed.

"Alright, so I bounced," Jack admitted, turning back to Martha, "I thought '21st century, best place to find the Doctor' except that I got it a little wrong. I arrived in  _1869_  and this thing burnt out so it was useless…till Evy fixed it at least."

"Told you," the Doctor called, not a thought crossing his mind about the fact that Evy had managed to fix the Manipulator when Jack couldn't. He'd seen that girl fix things he didn't even know were broken, fix things he hadn't even been able to fix. She really was brilliant at that. He laughed a bit to himself, he made people better, Evy made things better...in more ways than one...

"I had to live through the entire 20th century waiting for a version of you that would coincide with me," Jack ignored him.

"That makes you more that 100 years old!" Martha's eyes widened.

"And looking good, doncha think?" Jack waggled his eyebrows.

"Oh yes," Evy laughed, "Ianto must be  _very_  pleased."

Jack actually had the decency to blush at that, clearing his throat before turning the subject back to his conversation with Martha, "So I went to the time rift, based myself there 'cos I knew he'd come back to refuel. Until finally I get a signal on this," he jerked a thumb at the pack on his back, "Detecting him and here we are."

"But the thing is, how come you left him behind, Doctor?" Martha looked forward.

"I was busy," the Doctor shrugged, not turning around.

"Is that what happens, though? Seriously? Do you just get bored with us one day and disappear?"

"Not if you're blonde," Jack remarked, before realizing what he was implying and glanced worriedly at Evy.

"Oh, she was blonde?" Martha asked sarcastically, "Oh what a surprise?"

"Oi!" Evy called, interrupting them. It really  _was_  hard to hear about Rose. She was eternally grateful to the girl for helping the Doctor, being there for him, when she couldn't, but hearing what she already knew reaffirmed, that he perhaps loved Rose, it was still unsettling to her because of the Link, "We're at the end of the Universe! This is it! We are at the edge of knowledge itself and you're…you're…"

"Busy blogging!" the Doctor finished, he had had enough of the constant reminders of Rose as well, it still hurt quite a bit to think of her and to have others speaking of her repeatedly...it was why he didn't mention Sarah Jane or his other companions often, "Come on," he stalked off to the edge of a canyon, pulling Evy with him, to stare down at the remains of what looked like a cavernous city.

"Is that a city?" Martha asked, dropping the conversation.

"A city," the Doctor nodded.

"Or a hive," Evy suggested.

"Or a nest."

"Or a conglomeration," Evy smiled at the banter.

"Looks like it was grown," he nodded, "But look there. That's like pathways, roads…must have been some sort of life. Long ago."

"What killed it?" Martha frowned.

"Time," Evy remarked, sadly, "Just...time. It can heal all wounds, but end all as well."

"Everything's dying now," the Doctor confirmed, "All the great civilizations have gone. This isn't just night. All the stars have burned up and faded away into nothing."

"The planet must have a shield of some sort, an atmospheric shell," Evy glanced up.

"We  _should_  be frozen to death," Jack looked up as well.

"Well, Martha, Evy, and I maybe," the Doctor replied, giving Jack a knowing look, "Not so sure about you, Jack."

"What about the people?" Martha continued, "Does no one survive?"

"I suppose we have to hope," the Doctor shrugged, "Life will find a way."

"It always does," Evy smiled gently.

"Well,  _he's_  not doin' too bad," Jack pointed to a man in the distance, running, just before others ran after him with torches.

"Is it me or does that look like a hunt?" the Doctor asked for a moment before taking off after the man, "Come on!"

They ran down the hills towards the shouts, Jack laughing the whole way, shouting about how he missed the running until they reached the man being hunted.

"We've gotta run!" the man shouted when they caught up to him, "They're coming! They're coming!"

Jack's eyes widened as he saw the hunters coming and pushed the man towards the Doctor before pulling out his revolver.

"Jack, don't!" Evy's voice called out.

Jack hesitated a moment before firing into the air instead, stopping the hunters in place.

"What the hell are they?" Martha asked, gaping at the disfigured men and women that had stopped before them.

"There's more of them," the man shouted, "We've got to keep going."

"I've got a ship nearby," the Doctor reassured him, "It's safe. It's not far, it's just over there…" he looked up to see hunters approaching from the way they'd come, "Or maybe not…"

"We're close to the silo," the man gasped, "If we get to the silo, then we're safe."

The Doctor turned to them, "Silo?"

"Silo," Jack and Evy agreed at once.

"Silo for me too," Martha nodded.

And so the five of them were off, running towards the silo they could just make out in the distance, followed by the hunters. They ran straight to the gates, men rushing forward on the other side with weapons raised.

"It's the Future-kind!" the man called, "Open the gate!"

"Show me your teeth!" one of the guards demanded as they reached the metal gates, "Show me your teeth! Show me your teeth!"

"Show them your teeth," the man instructed before turning to show his teeth in a wide smile. The four followed suit as the guard inspected them.

"Human!" the guard confirmed, "Let 'em in! Let 'em in!" the gates opened and the five ran in, "Close! Close! Close!" the guards moved to close the gate as the main guard fired his gun at the ground halting the Future-kind.

"Humans," one of the Future-kind hissed, "Humani. Make feast."

"Go back to where you came from," the guard ordered, "I said go back! Go back!"

"Oh, don't tell  _him_  to put down  _his_  gun," Jack rolled his eyes at Evy as the guard took aim. Evy just elbowed him in the ribs gently, he knew how much she didn't like guns after living through the war...especially guns being used by people she cared about.

"Kind watch you," the Future-kind hissed again, "Kind hungry," but a moment later he signaled to the others and they began to back away.

"Thanks for that," the Doctor told the guard.

"Right," the guard nodded, "Let's get you inside."

"My name is Padrafet Shafekane," the man ran over to the guard, "Please tell me, can you take me to Utopia?"

"Oh yes, sir," the guard smiled, "Yes, I can," he led them into a large tunnel carved into the mountain, what the group could only determine was the silo.

~8~

They were all standing around, talking to another guard, Atillo, having just been added to their records. The Doctor was trying to get them to let him back outside to get the TARDIS but was being refused.

"It's a box, a big blue box," the Doctor was explaining, "I'm sorry, but I really need it back. It's stuck out there."

"I'm sorry, but my family were heading for the silo," Padrafet interrupted, "Did they get here? My mother is Kistane Shafekane. My brother is Beltone."

"The computers are down but you can check the paperwork," Atillo informed him, "Creet!" a young blonde boy of about 10 stuck his head out around a corner, "Passenger needs help."

"Right," Creet nodded, stepping out, "What d'you need?"

Padrafet walked over to Creet and looked through his clipboard and papers for his mother's name while Atillo turned back to the Doctor, "A blue box, you said."

"Big, tall, wooden," Evy nodded, helping, "Says 'Police.'"

He hesitated a moment before sighing, "We're driving out for a last water collection. I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," the Doctor grinned.

"Come on," Creet was saying to Padrafet, leading him off.

"Sorry," Martha called, following them, the others going with her, "But how old are you?"

"Old enough to work," Creet answered reasonably, "This way," he led them through the corridors lined with people camping out, calling for Padrafet's family, "Kistane Shafekane. Kistane Shafekane. Kistane and Beltone Shafekane? Looking for a Kistane and Beltone Shafekane."

"The Shafekanes anyone?" Padrafet tried.

"Anyone? Kistane and Beltone Shefkane? Anyone know the Shefkane family? Anyone called Shafekane?"

"It's like a refugee camp," Martha commented, looking at the various people all shuffling about and crouched along the walls.

"Stinking," Jack added before they passed a large man who stared at him, "Oh, sorry. No offence."

"Don't you see that?" the Doctor grinned broadly, "The ripe old smell of humans. You survived. Oh, much better than a million years evolving into clouds of gas. And then another million as downloads, but you always revert to the same basic shape. The fundamental humans."

"Kistane Shafekane!" Creet called.

"End of the Universe and here you are!"

Evy smiled, recalling something a previous Doctor had said once about this very species: Homo sapiens. What an inventive, invincible species. It's only a few million years since they crawled up out of the mud and learned to walk. Puny, defenseless bipeds. They've survived flood, famine, and plague. They've survived cosmic wars and holocausts. And now, here they are, out among the stars, waiting to begin a new life. Ready to out sit eternity. They're indomitable.

"Indomitable," she murmured thoughtfully.

"That's the word!" the Doctor turned to grin at her, having heard her, "Indomitable! Ha!"

"Is there a Kistane Shafekane?" Creet called.

"That's me!" a woman stood, gasping when she saw Padrafet.

"Mother?" Padrafet asked, pushing past the group towards his mother.

"Oh my God," his mother cried as another man stood up, his brother.

"Beltone?" Padrafet raced forward and embraced his family.

"It's not all bad news," Martha smiled softly, happy to see something good happen.

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack introduced himself, shaking hands with a rather attractive man who walked past, "And who are you?"

"Stop it!" Evy laughed, shaking her head at him, knowing how Jack could be.

The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver, flashing it across a door he was examining, trying to open it, "Give us a hand with this…" he called to Jack. Jack reluctantly let go of the man's hand to join the Doctor, Martha, and Evy at the door, "It's half deadlocked. See if you can overwrite the code."

Jack turned to look at the keypad, about to set to work, only to see that Evy was already way ahead of him and punching in a variety of numbers. He smiled, stepping back, watching as the two got to work. He looked over to see Martha standing there with the same smile. He caught her eye and nodded questioningly to the two of them. Martha could only roll her eyes, apparently this sort of thing happened a lot.

"Let's find out where we are," the Doctor muttered just as Evy got past the controls and the door slid open. The Doctor let out a startled yell as he almost fell into the silo, with only Jack jumping forward to grab his coat saving him.

"Gotcha!" Jack called, pulling him back.

"Thanks," the Doctor replied.

"How did you cope without me?"

"Evy's done a pretty good job so far," Martha commented.

"Look at that..." Evy commented, staring wide eyed at the transport before them, pulling their attention to it as well, "It's a rocket."

"They're not refugees, they're passengers!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"He said they were going to Utopia," Martha added.

"The perfect place. 100 trillion years, it's still the same old dream."

"Do either of you recognize those engines?" Evy asked the Doctor and Jack, nodding at the rocket.

"Nope," Jack answered while the Doctor shook his head, "Whatever it is, it's not rocket science. But it's hot, though."

"Boiling," the Doctor agreed, stepping back as Evy shut the door, "But if the Universe is falling apart, what does Utopia mean?"

Just then an old gentleman ran up to them, looking back and forth between Jack and the Doctor, flustered, before settling on Jack, "The Doctor?"

Evy snorted, "That's him," she gestured at the Doctor.

"Good!" the man shouted, taking the Doctor's arm and leading him away, "Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good."

"It's good apparently," the Doctor called over his shoulder to the group.

Martha, Jack, and Evy exchanged a look before following after.

"Chan-welcome-tho," a blue humanoid/insect alien greeted as the two men entered what looked like a crude laboratory.

"This is the gravitissimal accelerator," the man was explaining to the Doctor, pointing to some sort of system, "It's part of the …"

He faded off as the alien continued to greet Evy, Jack, and Martha, "Chan-welcome-tho."

"And over here is the footprint impellor system. If you know anything about end time gravity…"

"Hello," Martha greeted the female alien as Evy stepped past her to lean on a table, watching and listening in on the Doctor and the man, "Who are you?"

"Chan-Chantho-tho," the alien introduced.

"But we can't get it to harmonize!" the man finished.

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack introduced.

"Stop it!" Evy called, not even bothering to look back, knowing he was already flirting.

"Can't I say hello to anyone?" Jack sighed.

"Chan-I do not protest-tho," Chantho giggled.

"Maybe later, Blue," Jack winked, "So, what have we got here?"

Martha followed Jack into the room, there was an odd noise coming from his pack.

"And all this feeds into the rocket?" the Doctor looked around.

"Yeah, except without a stable footprint we'll never achieve escape velocity," the man sighed, "If only we could…"

"Harmonize the five impact patterns and unify them…" Evy said at the same time as the man. She stiffened, straightening, as everyone turned to look at her, confusion evident on her face, "I have  _no idea_  where that came from."

"Well, we might yet make it," the man continued, eyeing her a moment, "What do you think, Doctor? Any ideas?"

"Well, um, basically…sort of…not a clue…" he admitted.

"Nothing?" the man asked, his hope dwindling.

"I'm not from around these parts. I've never seen a system like it. Sorry."

"No, no," the man sighed dejectedly, "I'm sorry. It's my fault. There's been so little help."

"Oh my God!" Martha's voice carried over to them. They turned around to see her pulling a bubbling container with a hand in it from Jack's pack, "You've got a hand. A hand in a jar. A hand in a jar in your bag."

"That's…that's  _my_  hand!" the Doctor exclaimed, walking over to the table with the others.

"I said I had a Doctor detector," Jack grinned as Evy just grimaced.

He'd shown her the 'Doctor detector' during her time at Torchwood and it was a bit disturbing. She knew how the hand came to be the way it was, explained it to Jack, but seeing it there...being preserved...it was a bit gross in her opinion. She'd begged Jack to get rid of it, promising to make a true 'Time Lord detector' for him instead, but he'd just laughed and said it would be a good conversation starter if he ever got to see the Doctor again. Besides, he'd assured her he could see her sticking around with the Doctor a long time, and he knew she'd call and let him know when they dropped by Earth. Since they were the last two Time Lords left, there really wasn't any need for a 'Time Lord detector' was there.

"Chan-is this a tradition amongst your people-tho?" Chantho eyed the hand, confused.

"Not on my street," Martha shook her head, "What d'you mean that's _your_  hand? You've got both your hands, I can see them."

"Long story," the Doctor answered, staring at the hand, "I lost my hand Christmas Day. In a swordfight."

"What, and you grew another hand?"

"Um yeah. Yeah I did. Yeah. Hello," he waved his fingers.

"Might I ask what species are you?" the man asked.

"Time Lord. Last of. Heard of them? Legend or anything? Not even a myth?" the man and Chantho stared at him, "Blimey, end of the Universe is a bit humbling."

"Chan-it is said that I am the last of my species too-tho," Chantho said.

"Sorry, what was your name?"

"My assistant and good friend, Chantho," the man introduced, "A survivor of the Malmooth. This was their planet, Malcassairo, before we took refuge."

"The city outside, that was yours?" Evy looked at the blue woman.

"Chan-the conglomeration died-tho," Chantho informed them.

"Conglomeration!" the Doctor grinned, sitting back, "That's what I said!"

"Actually,  _I_  said it was a conglomeration," Evy cut in, "You said a city or a nest."

"You're supposed to say sorry," Jack chastised them both lightly.

"Oh, yes," the Doctor sat forward, looking serious, "Sorry."

"Me too," Evy blushed a bit.

"Chan-most grateful-tho," Chantho accepted.

"You grew another hand?" Martha asked a bit breathlessly, still caught up on that little detail.

The Doctor just waved his fingers, "Hello again. It's fine. Look. Really, it's me," he held out his hand for her to shake.

"All this time and you're still full of surprises," Martha laughed nervously. Evy had actually told her quite a bit about her people, about the Time Lords, not everything, of course, that would probably take forever, but still...she was learning things every day.

"Chan-you are most unusual-tho," Chantho commented.

"You have no idea," Evy shook her head.

"Hey!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"So what about those things outside?" Jack asked the man, "The beastie boys. What are they?"

"We call them the Future-kind," the man explained, "Which is a myth in itself, but, uh, it is feared they are what we will become. Unless we reach Utopia."

"And Utopia is…" Evy trailed.

"Oh, every human knows of Utopia. Where have you been?"

"Bit of a hermit," the Doctor shrugged.

"A hermit with friends?" he asked slowly.

"Hermits United. We meet up every ten years swap stories about caves. It's good fun…for a hermit. So, um, Utopia?"

The man just crooked his finger and led them to a computer with a navigational chart, a red dot blinking.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats! The reference to the Academic Series in the last chapter was the shoe throwing that Martha suggested :) Oh Jack, you never 'just say hello' do you? Lol.
> 
> Next chapter...something's wrong with Evy...


	17. Utopia (Part 2)

"The call came from across the stars over and over again," the man explained, showing them the map with the blinking red dot that symbolized Utopia, "Come to Utopia. Originated from that point."

"Where is that?" the Doctor frowned.

"Oh, it's far beyond the Condensate Wilderness. Out towards the wild lands and the dark matter reefs. Calling us in. The last of the humans. Scattered across the night."

"What do you think's out there?"

"I don't know. A colony, a city, some sort of haven? The Science Foundation created the Utopia Project thousands of years ago to preserve mankind, to find a way of surviving beyond the collapse of reality itself. Now perhaps they found it. Perhaps not. But it's worth a look, don't you think?"

"Oh yes," the Doctor agreed as Evy nodded, "And the signal keeps modulating, so it's not automatic. There's a good sign. Someone's out there. And that's…ooh, that's a navigation matrix, isn't it? So you can fly without stars to guide you."

"Professor?" Evy's voice cut into the Doctor's ramble. He looked up to see her staring at the man in concern as he had scrunched his face up in obvious pain, "Professor?" she frowned, getting a headache just looking at him.

Jack looked over, a small frown on his face...wondering why Evy had called him a professor, the man hadn't really introduced himself as one, if he even was...

"I…right, that's enough talk," the man jolted out of his thoughts, "There's work to do. Now if you could leave. Thank you."

"Are you alright?" Evy called as he walked away, still concerned for him.

"Yes. I'm fine! And busy!"

"Except that rocket's not going to fly, is it?" she asked, staring at him, "This footprint mechanism isn't working."

The Doctor looked over at Evy, surprised at her words, to see she had been holding a readout of the statistics of the mechanism in her hand. He smiled softly at her, leave it to her to figure it out.

"We'll find a way!" he insisted.

"You're stuck on this planet," the Doctor realized as he walked over to Evy who grinned and pointed out something on the readout to him, "And you haven't told them, have you? That lot out there, they still think they're gonna fly."

"Well, it's better to let them live in hope."

"Quite right too," the Doctor agreed, "And I must say, Professor…" he removed his coat and tossed it to Evy who rolled her eyes and passed it to Jack, "Um, what was it?"

"Yana."

Jack glanced at Evy, now it was confirmed, he had to wonder how she knew who the man was. Had she read his mind a bit or was it something else?

"Professor Yana. This new science is well beyond me, but all the same, a boost reversal circuit, in any time frame, must be a circuit which reverses the boost…"

"What's he going on about?" Martha whispered to Evy.

"Wait for it," she grinned.

"So, I wonder, what would happen if I did this?" he picked up the circuit and flashed the sonic across it, before switching it on. The entire room quivered as the power came on.

"Chan-it's working-tho!" Chantho shouted.

"But how did you do that?" Yana asked in amazement.

"Oh," Evy stepped forward to nudge the Doctor from the side, "Did we forget to tell you…he's brilliant."

~8~

After the power came on, there was chaos in the lab as everyone ran around, trying to get the controls working and everything up and running. Martha and Chantho had gone out to get some circuit boards while the men and Evy continued to rush about.

Jack moved off to the computer monitor to keep an eye out for contact with other areas of the silo while Evy, the Doctor, and Yana worked on a large clear circuit board in the center of the lab.

"Is this…" the Doctor began, sniffing one of the cords.

"Yes, gluten extract," Yana nodded.

"Binds the neutrino map together?" Evy concluded as Yana gave her an impressed smile. It wasn't really a conclusion, more of a niggling in the back of her mind that it was the right answer.

"But that's food," the Doctor's eyes widened in amazement, "You've built this system out of food and string and staples. Professor Yana you're a genius."

"Take that as an  _enormous_  compliment," Evy grinned at the old man, "He  _never_  calls anyone that when he's in the same room...no, the same building."

Yana just laughed, "Says the man who made it work."

"Ooh…it's easy coming in at the end but…you're stellar," the Doctor continued to gush, "This is…this is magnificent. Evy's right, I don't often say that 'cos…well, 'cos of me."

"Well, even my title is an affectation. There hasn't been such a thing as a university for…over a thousand years. I've spent my life going from one refugee ship to another."

"If you had been born in a different time, you'd be revered," Evy told him fondly, "I mean it. Throughout the galaxies."

"Oh, those damned galaxies," he shook his head before sighing, "They had to go and collapse. Some admiration would have been nice. Just a little. Just once."

"Well you've got it now," the Doctor grinned.

"But that footprint engine," Evy frowned, "You can't activate it onboard. It has to be done from here."

"You're staying behind?" the Doctor looked at the professor startled. How had he missed that?

"With Chantho," Yana nodded, "She won't leave without me. Simply refuses."

"You would give your life so they could fly."

"Oh, I think I'm a little too old for Utopia. Time I had some sleep."

"Professor, tell the Doctor we've found his blue box!" Atillo's voice sounded over the system.

"Ah!" the Doctor shouted.

"Doctor," Jack called from the monitor.

The Doctor and Yana joined Jack, but not before the Doctor tossed the last of the cords to Evy for her to finish setting up their side of the circuit. She rolled her eyes at him but smiled and went about plugging the cords in.

"Professor, it's a wild stab in the dark," the Doctor patted the man on his shoulder, "But I may just have found you a way out."

He ran out of the room to go retrieve the TARDIS, not noticing Yana staring at the box on the screen, a look of pain returning to his face.

At the circuit, Evy winced, rubbing her head as a pounding began there. There was a whirring and the TARDIS appeared in a small corner of the room. The Doctor ran out, tugging a long power line behind him and into the lab, "Extra power," he commented, plugging it into an outlet, "Little bit of a cheat, but who's counting? Jack, you're in charge of the retro-feeds," he turned to see Evy rubbing her head, "Everything alright Evy?"

She looked up, a bit startled, but smiled, the pounding had already diminished, "Fine."

But the Doctor remained frowning at her.

Before he could question her more, Martha and Chantho returned, "Oh, am I glad to see that thing," Martha grinned at the TARDIS.

Chantho's focus was, instead, on Yana who had collapsed in a chair, "Chan-professor, are you alright-tho?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I'm fine," he sat up straighter, sounding stronger, "I'm fine. Just get on with it."

"Connect those circuits into the spar, same as that last lot," Jack told Martha, "But quicker."

"Yes, sir," Martha laughed before going to do it.

The Doctor went over to Yana, "You don't have to keep working," he told him, "We can handle it."

"It's just a headache," Yana waved him off, "Just…just noise inside my head. Constant noise inside my head."

"What sort of noise?"

"It's the sound of drums," Yana sighed. Jack glanced at Evy, concerned, when he saw her stiffen for a moment by the circuit board, "More and more as though it's getting closer."

"When did it start?"

"Oh, I've had it all my life. Every waking hour. Still, no rest for the wicked," he pushed himself up and went back to work, not noticing Evy's gaze following him till he stepped past Jack who caught her eye instead. He gave her a questioning look but she just shook her head, getting back to finishing the circuit board.

~8~

They had been working nonstop when a call from Atillo came over the monitor, calling out for Yana.

"I'm here!" Yana called, sitting down before the computer, "We're ready! Now all you need to do is connect the couplings. Then we can launch…" the picture froze, "God's sake! This equipment! Needs rebooting all the time!"

"Anything I can do?" Evy asked, walking over, "I've finished the circuit."

"Yes, if you could," he got up, allowing her to have the seat, "Just press the reboot key every time the picture goes out."

"Easy enough," Evy shrugged and pushed the key.

"Are you still there?" Atillo appeared on screen.

"Ah, present and correct," Yana smiled, patting Evy on the shoulder absently, "Send your man inside. We'll keep the levels down from here."

Moments later Atillo was back on screen, "He's inside. And good luck to him."

"Captain," Yana turned to Jack as he moved away from the computer and Evy, "Keep the levels below the red."

"Where is that room?" the Doctor asked, leaning over Evy's shoulder to see the room.

"It's underneath the rocket. Fix the couplings and the footprint can work. But the entire chamber is flooded with stet radiation."

"Stet?" Evy frowned.

"Never heard of it," the Doctor commented.

"You wouldn't want to," he told them, "But it's safe enough. We can hold the radiation back from here."

Atillo's man walked into the room and began working on the couplings for only a minute before the alarms began to sound.

"It's rising…0.2," Yana read, "Keep it level!"

"Yes, sir!" Jack called back.

The reading started to go down once more. The second coupling was opened when suddenly another alarm went off and the readings went crazy.

"Chan-we're losing power-tho!" Chantho called.

"Radiation's rising!" the Doctor's eyes widened in horror.

"We've lost control!" Jack yelled.

"The chamber's going to flood!" Yana breathed.

"Jack!" Evy shouted, swiveling around, "Override the vents!" her eyes widened as Jack grabbed two live cables, "Not like that! I didn't mean like that!"

"We can jump start the override!" Jack moved to crash them both together.

"Don't!" the Doctor called, "It's going to flare!"

Jack screamed as the power coursed through him, the others watching helplessly as he fell to the floor, dead.

"I've got him!" Martha yelled, rushing to his side.

"Chan-don't touch the cables-tho," Chantho warned, pushing the cable away.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Yana frowned.

"It's alright," Evy waved him off, twisting back and forth in the chair, calmly waiting for Jack to come back.

"The chamber's flooded with radiation, yes?" the Doctor asked as Martha began to give mouth-to-mouth to Jack.

"Without the couplings, the engines will never start," Yana lamented, "It was all for nothing!"

"Oh, I don't know," Evy sighed, pushing herself off the seat and walking towards Martha, "Martha, leave him," she pulled her away.

"You've gotta let me try..." Martha struggled.

"Just give him a moment," Evy laughed, reminding the woman with her calm that Jack would be just fine.

"Professor, you've got a room a man can't enter without dying," the Doctor glanced at Yana, "Is that correct?"

"Yes," Yana answered slowly.

"Well…" Evy began as Jack gasped back to life, "We've got just the man for the job."

And of course, the only thing Jack would think to ask after being electrocuted and reviving was, "Was someone kissing me?"

Evy laughed, countering with, "Is Ianto here?"

Jack could only blush.

~8~

Jack and the Doctor had left to get to the silo's radiation room while Evy, Martha, Chantho, and Yana remained behind. Evy was sitting at the computer that would give them contact with the Doctor and Jack while Chantho and Martha stood behind her and Yana sat a few feet behind them. Evy typed in a few things before frowning and pressing a button, "We lost picture with the wire flares," she called into the audio device, "Doctor, are you there?"

"Receiving, yeah," the Doctor's voice came back, "He's inside."

"And still alive?" Martha frowned.

"Oh, yes."

"But he should evaporate," Yana argued, "What sort of a man is he?"

"I've only met him a few times," Martha glanced at Yana, "The Doctor sort of travels through time and space and picks people up. God, I make us sound like stray dogs. Maybe we are."

"He travels in time?" Yana asked distractedly.

"Don't ask me to explain it," Martha remarked, watching Evy who was focused on trying to get the visual up, "That's a TARDIS. The sports car of time travel, he says."

Evy winced and shook her head, feeling the vague stirrings of a headache approaching again. It was odd, it really was...she didn't get very many headaches but now, in the course of only a few hours she'd had more than she'd had in a century. But she couldn't think on that now, she really wanted to get the visual up, see for herself that Jack was alright, and would continue to be, in that room.

"When did you first realize?" the Doctor's voice came over the audio, it seemed he had forgotten their feed was still open.

"Earth, 1892," Jack answered, struggling a bit, "Got in a fight in Ellis Island. A man shot me through the heart. Then I woke up. Thought it was kinda strange. But then it never stopped. Fell off a cliff, trampled by horses, World War I, World War II, poison, strangulation, a stray javelin…" Evy winced at that particular death, "In the end, I got the message, I'm the man who can never die. And all that time you knew."

Of course the Doctor knew. Jack had gleamed that much off of her and the cryptic replies she would sometimes give him about time in relation to him. She knew he wasn't sure if it was her connection to the Doctor or just an ability all Time Lords had, but he didn't seem to really care, that wasn't what bothered him, it was the fact that the Doctor had abandoned him and not knowing what had happened to make the man do so.

"That's why I left you behind," the Doctor told him, "It's not easy even just…just looking at you Jack, 'cos you're wrong."

Jack snorted, "Thanks."

It was times like these where she really wished the Doctor knew she was a Time Lady. She had no problem hanging around the time anomaly. She'd shown no signs of discomfort when she'd been at Torchwood, the little time she'd spent there, before the Doctor came. As far as she was concerned, Jack was a human, as much of a human as anyone else, he just happened to be connected to the Vortex in a way. Perhaps it was seeing him interact with his Torchwood team, seeing his budding relationship with Ianto, seeing him  _being_  human. In a sense, he was even more human than before having had to live through all he had, experience all the pain and joys of life that not everyone could in a single life. He was most certainly the sort of man Lazarus had not been, a man who could do so much in a single life, but continue on and do the same in each life.

"You are, I can't help it," the Doctor sighed, "I'm a Time Lord. It's instinct. It's in my guts. You're a fixed point in time a space. You're a fact. That's never meant to happen. Even the TARDIS reacted against you, tried to shake you off."

"Flew all the way to the end of the Universe just to get rid of him," Evy commented quietly, having set the audio controls so that the two men wouldn't hear them, Jack not needing the extra distraction, but that they could still hear the two of them. The poor TARDIS. Had Jack been inside and not clinging to her, she probably wouldn't have reacted as violently.

"So what you're saying is that you're, uh," they heard a switch of the coupling, "Prejudiced?"

"I never thought of it like that," the Doctor admitted.

"Yeah. Last thing I remember back when I was mortal…I was facing three Daleks. Death by extermination. And then I came back to life. What happened?"

"Rose," Evy answered quietly as the Doctor answered the same. She knew all about what Rose had done.

"I thought you sent her back home?" Jack grunted.

"She came back," the Doctor replied, "Opened the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the Time Vortex."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"No one's ever meant to have that power. If a Time Lord did that, he'd become a god, a vengeful god. But she was human. Everything she did was so human. She brought you back to life but she couldn't control it. She brought you back forever."

"I'm sorry," Martha said quietly to Evy, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, she knew how hard it must be to hear the Doctor talking about and praising Rose. She'd heard enough of it before Evy had arrived and it nearly drove her up the wall, and she hadn't even have a claim to the Doctor like Evy did, it must be worse for her.

"It's alright," Evy put her hand on top of Martha's, "He cared for her, in a way he did love her," she nodded, "She loved him, saved his life...what do you know," she smiled gently to herself, "The final act of the Time War was life."

"Do you think she could change me back?" Jack continued.

"I took the power out of her," the Doctor explained, "She's gone, Jack. She's not just living on a parallel world, she's trapped there. The walls have closed."

Evy frowned a bit…something sounded...off...in the Doctor's voice.

"I'm sorry," Jack said.

"Yep," the Doctor popped the p.

Now Evy was really frowning, she just couldn't put her finger on what was wrong with how he was speaking. She'd heard him speak of Rose before, both during her own trips with him and in his mind during trips with Martha. It wasn't like he was trying to hide his pain by being matter-of-fact or emotionless while talking…it actually sounded…almost…accepting?

"I went back to her estate, in the 90s, just once or twice," Jack told him, "Watched her growing up. Never said hello, timelines and all that."

"Do you wanna die?" the Doctor asked suddenly.

"Oh, this one's a little stuck," Jack struggled, avoiding the question.

"Jack?"

"I thought I did. I dunno. But this lot, you see them out here surviving and that's fantastic," there was a whoosh as the coupling was twisted.

"You may be out there somewhere."

"I could go meet myself."

"Well, the only man you're ever gonna be happy with."

"This new regeneration, it's kinda cheeky."

"Tell me about it," Evy rubbed her head, her headache growing stronger.

"I never understand half the things he says," Martha laughed, rubbing Evy's shoulder, "How do you do it?"

"Decades of practice," Evy semi-joked, turning around only to see Yana looking down at the ground, almost broken hearted, "What's wrong?"

"Chan-professor, what is it-tho?" Chantho walked over to him, along with Martha and Evy.

"Time travel," he sniffled a bit, "They say there was time travel back in the old days. I never believed. But what would I know? I'm just a stupid old man. Never could keep time. Always late, always lost. Even this thing never worked," he pulled out a fob watch from his pocket, not noticing Evy and Martha stiffening at the sight, "Time and time and time again. Always running out on me."

"Can I have a look at that?" Martha asked, but Evy grabbed a hold of her arm before she could reach out.

"Oh, it's only an old relic," he chuckled, "Like me."

"Where did you get it?"

"Martha," Evy whispered in warning, her eyes fixed on the watch.

"Hmm?" Yana looked up at her, "I was found with it."

"What do you mean?" Evy asked this time, begging for a different answer than the one she was expecting.

"An orphan in the storm. I was a naked child found on the coast of the Silver Devastation. Abandoned with only this."

"Have you opened it?" Martha asked.

"Martha, don't," Evy said quietly.

"Why would I?" Yana looked confused, "It's broken."

"How do you know it's broken if you never opened it?" Martha tried again.

"Martha," Evy hissed, "Really,  _don't_."

"It's stuck," Yana shrugged, "It's old. It's not meant to be. I don't know."

Martha reached out and turned the watch over, seeing the same engravings as on the Doctor's. Evy pulled her back. She looked up to see Evy staring at the watch with an almost scared expression on her face.

"Does it matter?" Yana continued.

"No!" Evy answered quickly, "It's…nothing. It's…listen, everything's fine up here. We're gonna see if the Doctor needs us…"

She turned and pulled Martha out of the room, half dragging her down the halls in search of the Doctor.

"What's wrong?" Martha asked.

But Evy just shook her head, following the pull of the Link towards the Doctor. They found him and Jack in the control hallway outside the radiation room, working at the controls, the countdown to launch already started.

"Ah, nearly there," the Doctor was saying, "The footprint is a gravity pulse. It stamps down, the rocket shoots up. Bit primitive. It's gonna take the both of us to keep it stable."

Evy ran around him and pressed a button he had been about to push.

"Doctor, it's the professor," Martha began explaining, "He's got this watch. He's got a fob watch. It's the same as yours. Same writing on it. Same…everything."

"Don't be ridiculous," the Doctor shook his head.

"I asked him," Evy added, staring at him seriously, "He said he's had it all his life."

"So he's got the same watch," Jack shrugged.

"Yeah, but it's not a watch," Martha insisted, "It's this chameleon thing…"

"No, no, no," the Doctor said, "It's this…this thing, this device, it rewrites biology, changes a Time Lord into a human."

"And it's the  _same_  watch," Evy said.

"It can't be," he stared at her.

An alarm near Jack blared, Evy ran to fix it.

"That means he could be a Time Lord," Jack said, glancing at Evy before looking at the Doctor, "You might not be the last one."

"Keep it level!" he called.

"But that's brilliant, isn't it?" Martha smiled.

"Yes, it is. Course it is."

"Depends which one," Evy mumbled just loud enough for Jack to hear her. He stopped mid-work and stared at her, seeing the concern in her eyes. Something was wrong.

"Brilliant, fantastic, yeah," the Doctor continued, "But they died, the Time Lords. All of them, they died."

"Not if he was human," Jack added.

"What did he say, Martha?" he turned to Martha suddenly, before yelling, "What did he say?"

Martha gasped at his sudden change in attitude, "He looked at the watch like he could hardly see it. Like that Perception Filter thing."

"What about now? Can he see it now?"

"If he escaped the Time War then it's the perfect place to hide," Evy sighed, "The end of the Universe."

Jack looked at her again, the way she said 'he' made him think she knew just who was in the watch.

"Think of what the Face of Boe said," Martha continued, neither she nor the Doctor having heard the girl, "His dying words. He said…"

The Doctor reached out and slammed a button down, launching the rocket, not noticing Evy whip around sensing the watch in Yana's hands had been opened.

"What is it?" Jack asked her quietly.

"It's him…he survived," Evy shook her head frantically.

"Who?"

"The watch…the drum beats…it's him…"

"Evy, who?"

She looked up at him, her eyes wide, "It's the Master."

The Doctor turned and grabbed a phone to the rocket, "Lieutenant, have you achieved velocity? Have you done it? Lieutenant! Have you done it?"

"Affirmative," Atillo's voice replied, "We'll see you in Utopia."

"Good luck," the Doctor said before hanging up and running out of the room, Jack, Evy, and Martha following. They reached the main door out of the hall, only for it to lock just before they got there. He pulled out the sonic screwdriver, trying to get the door open while Evy ran to the keypad, "Get it open! Get it open!"

"Almost…" Evy gave a shout of triumph as the door flew open and they were off again.

They ran down the halls, trying to make their way back to the lab when the Future-kind entered the end of the hall, forcing them to backtrack. They ran through a few more halls before Jack stopped them at an intersection, "This way!" he shouted.

They turned the corner and found themselves just outside the lab door, only to find it locked as well. Evy ran to the keypad, working on it as the Doctor looked through the window.

"Professor!" he pounded on the window, "Professor, let me in! Let me in! Evy get the door open! Professor! Professor, where are you? Professor! Professor, are you there? Please, I need to explain! Whatever you do, don't open that watch!"

"It's too late," Evy mumbled as she worked on the keypad, but no one heard her, no one saw her flinching as her headache pounded away at her skull.

"They're coming!" Martha shouted, seeing the Future-kind down the hall.

"Professor!" the Doctor shouted again, "Open the door, please! I'm begging you, Professor! Please! Listen to me! Open the door, please!"

Jack turned and pulled Evy's hand away, smashing the keypad with the butt of his gun, short circuiting the doors to open. They ran in, the Doctor stopping short as he saw Yana leaning against the TARDIS door. He stepped forward, only for Yana to back inside the TARDIS and lock it. He ran, trying his key but it didn't work. He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and flashed it, trying to open the doors that way when another lock slid into place. Yana had deadlocked the door, the sonic could do nothing now.

Seeing that the doors were now sealed against him, the Doctor resorted to pounding on them, "Let me in! Let me in!"

"She's dead," Martha called from Chantho's side, the blue alien lying on the floor with a wound to her stomach.

"The lock's broken!" Evy shouted, from the door, trying to hold it shut with Jack.

"Give us a hand!" Jack yelled as Martha came to help.

"I'm begging you!" the Doctor pleaded through the TARDIS doors, "Everything's changed! It's only the two of us! We're the only ones left! Just let me in!"

"Oh no…" Evy breathed, seeing the golden light emitting from the TARDIS followed by a scream, "He's regenerated!"

"Doctor!" Jack called, "You'd better think of something!"

Moments after the light faded the speakers on the TARDIS were switched on, "Doctor…ooh, new voice…" the voice went low, "Hello…" then high, "Hello…" then back to normal, "Hello. Anyway, why don't we stop and have a nice little chat while I tell you all my plans and you can work out a way to stop me? I don't think so!"

"Hold on!" Martha gasped, "I  _know_  that voice!"

Evy leaned over and bit an arm that stuck through the door, making it pull back.

"I'm asking you really properly!" the Doctor begged, "Just stop! Just  _think_!"

"Use my name," the man called.

"Master. I'm sorry."

"Tough!"

The Doctor and Evy's eyes widened as they heard the console being started up. The Doctor held out the sonic screwdriver.

"We can't hold out much longer, Doctor!" Jack shouted.

"Oh, no you don't!" the Master shouted as the TARDIS fought him, "End of the Universe. Have fun. Bye bye!"

"Doctor, stop him!" Evy yelled, but they could only watch as the TARDIS disappeared.

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We now have the Master! So excited! And, hmm...Evy knows the Master as well it seems. But does she know of him? Or know him? I suppose we'll find out soon won't we? :)
> 
> Next chapter a connection grows stronger, Jack learns something shocking, and we discover a hint of why the Master is determined to rule the Earth and it's much more than just trying to hurt the Doctor...


	18. The Sound of Drums (Part 1)

The Doctor, Jack, Martha, and Evy were sitting in a pedestrian area of the street, talking quietly about what had just happened with the Future-kind. They'd nearly been attacked but the Doctor had managed to sonic Jack's Vortex Manipulator to teleport through time once more and they'd escaped, barely.

"And the moral is?" Evy asked Jack as he finished his rendition of what happened.

"If you're gonna get stuck at the end of the Universe, get stuck with an ex-Time Agent and his Vortex Manipulator," he grinned at them.

Evy shook her head, looking around at all the 'Vote Saxon' posters as Martha frowned, "But this Master bloke, he's got the TARDIS. He could be anywhere in time and space."

"No, he's here," the Doctor replied, "Trust me."

"Who is he anyway? And that voice at the end, that wasn't the professor."

"If the Master's a Time Lord, he must have regenerated," Jack commented, noticing Evy staring into space, her brow furrowed in thought.

She was oblivious to the conversation going on around her as she noticed a faint tapping rhythm reaching her. She glanced over to see the Doctor had noticed as well and was staring at a homeless man a ways away tapping on his mug.

"What does that mean?" Martha continued, acting as though Evy hadn't told her all this before. If she just sat there, not bothering to ask then the Doctor would be suspicious. She'd seen Evy backtrack and come up with dozens of excuses to keep her cover from him, she was not about to let the girl's secret out after all the effort the Time Lady had gone through to keep it.

"Means he's changed his face, voice, body, everything," Jack answered, his gaze on Evy and the Doctor, "New man."

"Then how are we gonna find him?"

Evy looked away suddenly as the tapping grew louder in her mind.

"I'll know him, the moment I see him," the Doctor replied, turning away from the tapping as well, "Time Lords always do."

Jack just  _barely_  managed to contain a snort before throwing a knowing look at Evy who just rolled her eyes and shook her head. She could only imagine how the Doctor would react to finding out she herself was a Time Lord, well, Lady.

Martha looked between them, noticing their silent communication and was confused for only a moment before she remembered that Evy had told her Jack and Ianto had rescued her, they knew she was a Time Lady. She laughed silently to herself, it seemed, of their group, only the Time Lord wasn't aware. She shook her head, when her gaze was caught by something, "But hold on..." she frowned, just noticing the 'Vote Saxon' posters as well, "If he could be anyone…we missed the election. But it  _can't_  be…"

A giant screen began projecting a news feed, cutting Martha off. The group slowly stood and made their way towards it, the Doctor with a serious expression on his face.

"Mr. Saxon has returned from the Palace and is greeting the crowd inside Saxon Headquarters," the newscaster announced, showing a clip of a man in a suit walking down a staircase, surrounded by people, with a woman at his side.

"I said I knew that voice!" Martha exclaimed as they stepped closer to the screen, "When he spoke inside the TARDIS. I've heard that voice hundreds of times. I've seen him. We all have. That was the voice of Harold Saxon."

Evy gasped as the Master's face came into view, something that went unnoticed by everyone but Jack.

"That's him," the Doctor pronounced, eyes widening at the scene playing before him, "He's Prime Minister."

"Mr. Saxon, this way, sir," someone on the screen shouted as another called, "Come on, kiss for the lady, sir!"

"The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain," the Doctor breathed just as the man kissed the woman at his side. His eyes widened comically at the sight as Evy, for some reason, nearly gagged behind him, "The Master and his  _wife_!"

The Master took a step away from the crowd to address the press, "This country has been sick," he said, "This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that what this country really needs right now…is a doctor."

The entire group's eyes widened as the Master grinned into the camera. They knew what it meant, the Master knew they were there.

They immediately ran for the nearest unoccupied car they could find, the Doctor using the sonic screwdriver to get it started as Martha took the wheel, the Doctor in the front seat with Jack and Evy in the back. They needed to try and find more information on Saxon/the Master, Martha had to have a computer or something at her home.

The Doctor was questioning Martha about what she knew of Saxon as Evy stared out the window an uneasy feeling growing in her chest. A fuzzy feeling started to fan across her mind, making her a bit dazed. The more and more dazed she became, the clearer she could see something happening just at the edge of her vision...

" _...because you are traitors. Oh yes, you are! As soon as you saw the vote swinging my way, you abandoned your parties and you jumped on the Saxon bandwagon. So…"_

Evy's eyes widened a bit as she could see the Master sitting at a table before an assembly of people in a small room.

" _This is your reward," he said, taking a gas mask and slipping it over his head._

" _Excuse me, Prime Minister, do you mind my asking…what is that?" a man across from him asked._

" _It's a gas mask," he replied, his voice muffled by the mask._

" _I beg your pardon?"_

" _It's a gas mask," he repeated, taking it off for a moment to speak clearly before putting it back on._

" _Yes, but, uh, why are you wearing it?" the same man asked but his reply was too muffled to hear, "I'm sorry?"_

_The Master lifted his mask, "Because of the gas," he said simply, putting it back on._

" _What gas?" the man asked._

"No," Evy whispered to herself, sensing what was about to happen. Unbeknownst to her, Jack heard and looked over to see her staring at nothing, tears growing in her eyes as she watched the scene unfold.

" _This gas," the Master grinned just before speakers popped up on the table and began blowing out a white gas. The ministers began coughing and choking._

Evy watched helplessly as they tried to escape, a horrible drumming filling her head. She couldn't blink, she couldn't look away, she could scarcely breathe as she watched it all happen in her mind's eye.

" _You're insane!" the man managed to get out._

_The Master simply gave him two thumbs up as the minister collapsed on the table._

She jolted in her seat with a gasp as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced over to see Jack staring at her, a serious and worried expression on his face. She wiped her eye before any tears could fall and chanced a look at the front, the Doctor and Martha were still in conversation, oblivious to what had happened behind them.

"Everything alright?" Jack asked, squeezing her shoulder a bit.

She let out a shuddering breath before shaking her head. She leaned over to whisper to him so the Doctor and Martha wouldn't hear, "He's killed them," she shut her eyes and could still see them dying right behind her eyelids, "The Master...he's killed the ministers."

"How do you know?" he questioned, leaning in closer, not wanting the Doctor to notice but also wanting to comfort the clearly shaken woman beside him. Ianto was right, she was truly like a younger sister to the both of them...seeing her so upset, it hurt...

"I saw it. In my mind."

Jack's brow furrowed in confusion as he thought on her words. It sounded like how she described seeing the Doctor while in hospital, "I thought you were Linked to the Doctor?"

"I am," she nodded, bracing herself for what she was about to say, "Time Lords can read each other's thoughts...we typically put up a generic mental barrier to keep stray thoughts out. The Master has it up, that's why the Doctor can't hear his thoughts, but...that sort of shielding, it's to keep out our people, it's not strong enough to keep out..." she sighed, taking a breath, "It's not strong enough to keep out family."

"Family?" Jack hissed, his eyes widening as he realized just what she was implying.

She nodded solemnly, "He's my older brother."

To say he was shocked by the little piece of information she shared would be an understatement. But as he looked at her...he could see something in her eyes, he wasn't sure if it was that she was stunned or scared...or both...he couldn't help but reach out and squeeze her hand. He opened his mouth, searching for something to say to her, but was at a loss. He had little time to react as they just pulled up to Martha's home. The Doctor gave them no time as he ushered them all out and inside.

"Home!" Martha called fondly as she entered her room. It felt like ages since she'd been there last.

"What have you got?" the Doctor asked, looking around, "Computer? Laptop? Anything?"

Jack took out his cell phone and the Doctor just rolled his eyes, "Jack, who are you phoning? You can't tell anyone we're here!"

"Just some friends of mine," he replied, still not sure how he should react to Evy's little confession, but choosing, for now, to ignore it, let the information settle before he did or said anything. Working at Torchwood had made him cautious to handling certain situations and the last thing he wanted to do was upset Evy or hurt her by reacting without thinking...Ianto would kill him if he hurt his psuedo-little sister.

"Any reply?" Evy asked, growing concerned for her friends in Torchwood, especially Ianto, she knew how much he was coming to mean to Jack, how much he already meant to her. She hadn't been lying when she'd told him and Jack that she thought of them as her brothers, she could only hope Jack would forgive her. Whether for not telling him who her brother was or for who her brother was she wasn't sure.

"None," he answered, flipping the phone closed.

"Here you go," Martha handed her laptop to the Doctor, "Any good?"

Jack strode over and took the laptop from him, placing it on Martha's desk as he logged onto the internet, "I can show you the Saxon websites. He's been around for ages."

"That can't be right..." Evy commented, leaning over Jack's shoulder as Martha went to sit on her bed. If it was the Master, how could that be? She knew what the Doctor had done to the TARDIS, there was no way the Master would have been able to be there that long.

"It's the day after the election," Martha stated, "That's only four days after I met you."

"We went flying all around the Universe while he was here the whole time," the Doctor muttered, shaking his head.

"You gonna tell us who he is?"

"He's a Time Lord."

"What about the rest of it? I mean, who'd call himself 'the Master?'"

"That's all you need to know," he said, serious, before turning to Jack, "Come on, show me Harold Saxon."

Martha sighed, getting up to check her messages. There was only one from her sister, something about a new job, but she ignored it, moving to sit back on her bed as the three others stood over her computer.

~8~

They had been looking up campaign commercials for Saxon on his website as Jack read off some information about him, "Former Minister of Defense. First came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas Eve," Jack glanced at the Doctor sitting before him at the desk, "Nice work, by the way."

"Oh, thanks," the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"He goes back years," Martha added, "He's famous. Everyone knows his story. Look...Cambridge University, Rugby blue, won the Athletics thing, wrote a novel, went into business, marriage, everything. He's got a whole life!"

"It's a lie," Evy whispered as she stared at a picture of him, "Harold Saxon isn't real..."

She trailed off, the same glazed look forming in her eyes. Jack eyed her cautiously, knowing she was probably tapping into her own connection with the Master. He glanced at the Doctor who seemed oblivious as he stared at the computer reading more.

"… _who are you?" a woman whispered._

" _I'm the Master and these are my friends," the Master replied as four small metal spheres began to float around him._

" _I'm sorry?" the woman took a step back._

" _Can't you hear it, Mrs. Rook?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _The drumbeat," he closed his eyes and listened._

Evy could hear them, as clear as bells, in her mind as well.

" _The drums coming closer and closer."_

_The spheres shot spikes out of their lower halves and advanced towards the woman, "The lady doesn't like us," one sphere said._

" _Silly lady," another sphere added._

" _Dead lady," the last one corrected._

 _The woman screamed as the spheres launched towards her._   _The Master and his wife fled the room…_

Evy snapped back to herself. She saw Jack looking at her, but looked away. His face grew grim and he understood, the Master must have killed again. It was then he noticed she was shaking slightly. That was all he needed to see to kick him into a reality he'd only forgotten for a split second, Evy was NOTHING like the Master. Whatever was going on, it was  _hurting_ her...

He got up and went to the kitchen to make some tea for everyone, "But he's got a TARDIS. Maybe the Master went back in time and has been living here for decades."

The Doctor shook his head, "No."

"Why not? Worked for me."

"When he was stealing the TARDIS, the only thing I could do was fuse the coordinates. I locked them permanently."

Evy nodded, too upset to really care what the Doctor made of her next words or how she knew, "He can only travel between the year 100 trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed."

"Which is right here, right now," the Doctor agreed, too focused on the computer to even realize what Evy had said or that she'd said it, something that only those who understood the controls of a TARDIS would know about.

Evy let out a silent laugh and shook her head, the man truly was  _oblivious_  wasn't he?

"Yeah, but a little leeway?" Jack ventured.

"Well…18 months, tops," the Doctor guessed, "The most he could have been here is 18 months."

"So how has he managed all this?" Evy tilted her head to the side as she asked her question.

"The Master was always sort of…hypnotic but this is on a massive scale."

"I was gonna vote for him," Martha admitted offhandedly.

"Really?" the Doctor and Evy asked in unison, looking at each other for a moment before turning back to Martha.

"Well, it was before I even met you," she blushed as she looked at the Doctor, "And I liked him."

"Me too," Jack added. He looked at Evy who looked away. In the time she was on Earth, the more recent time, she wasn't really in the soundest of mind to be focusing on any other Time Lord but the Doctor.

"Why do you say that?" the Doctor eyed them curiously, "What was his policy? What did he stand for?"

Martha shrugged, looking across the room, a bit of a dreamy expression on her face, "I dunno. He always sounded…good."

She started to tap her fingers against the bed post in the same rhythm the homeless man had. Evy stiffened and put her hand on the Doctor's shoulder. He looked up at her curiously but, when he noticed her gaze locked on Martha's fingers, he quickly noticed as well.

"Like you could trust him," Martha continued, oblivious to her tapping, "Just nice. He spoke about…I can't really remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice..."

"What's that?" the Doctor asked, standing, his eyes trained on her fingers.

"What?" Martha replied, startled out of her reverie.

"That!" he nearly shouted, pointing at her hands, "That tapping, that rhythm! What are you doing?"

"I dunno," she shook her head frantically, confused, "It's nothing. It's j…I dunno!"

Suddenly a jingle played behind them and they saw a message of Saxon broadcasting live on the website. The Doctor rushed to the TV and turned it on, "It seems our lord and master is speaking to his kingdom."

The Master appeared onscreen, sitting in front of a fireplace in the Cabinet Room, "Britain, Britain, Britain," he grinned, "What extraordinary times we've had. Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies."

Clips of the Slitheen rigged ship hitting Big Ben appeared on screen, "You've seen it happen, Big Ben destroyed, a spaceship over London," he continued as other clips appeared, "All those ghosts and metal men. The Christmas star that came to kill. Time and time again the government told you nothing. Well not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today is to tell you this…citizens of Great Britain…I have been contacted. A message, for humanity, from beyond the stars."

He nodded and a new clip of one of the spheres came on. Evy gripped Jack's arm hard. He glanced over to see her eyeing the sphere with a mixture of fear and anger, it clicked, one of them must have killed someone, "People of the Earth, we come in peace," the sphere said, "We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship."

"Ooh, sweet," the clip came back to the Master, "And this species has identified itself. They're called the Toclafane."

"What?" the Doctor nearly shouted.

"And tomorrow morning they will appear. Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the Universe. Every man, woman, and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. And every…oh, I don't know…medical student?"

The Doctor and Evy's eyes widened. The Doctor spun the TV around to see a bomb strapped to it. He jumped up, about to grab the laptop when he saw Evy had beaten him to it. Instead he grabbed Martha and pulled her outside with Jack and Evy following just as an explosion went off behind them.

"Alright?" he asked them.

"Fine," Jack replied, helping Evy to her feet, making sure she was ok, "Yeah, fine."

"Martha?" he turned, only to see her on the phone, "What are you doing?"

"He knows about me," she replied, "What about my family?"

"Don't tell them anything!"

"I'll do what I like!" she retorted until someone answered the phone, "Mum? Oh my God, you're there!"

Evy, Jack, and the Doctor listened silently as Martha spoke with her parents, quickly growing frightened as her father started shouting over the phone for her to run. The line was suddenly cut and she whirled around to face them, "I gotta help them!"

She ran to her car and got in, "That's exactly what they want!" the Doctor called after her.

"It's a trap," Evy confirmed.

"I don't care," Martha snapped.

The Doctor quickly motioned for them to get in and they did, everyone sitting in the same places as before. Martha tried to contact her sister but only got through for a moment before being cut off by Tish being pulled away. They made it to her mother's house just in time to see some armed men hauling Martha's father away.

The men saw Martha and began to fire guns at them, luckily she was able to get them away and speed down the road.

"Now, Martha, listen to me," Jack said calmly, "Do as I say. We've gotta ditch this car. Pull over. Right now!"

Martha did as he said and they quickly took off down the road on foot, "Martha come on!" the Doctor shouted as she lagged behind. He spun around only to see her on the phone. He was about to say something when Evy grabbed his arm and shook her head. He sighed, shoulders drooping but said nothing, just kept walking.

Martha had managed to contact her brother it seemed and was trying to convince him to hide when she suddenly stopped walking, "Let them go Saxon!" the Doctor and Evy spun around as Martha continued to shout into the phone, "Do you hear me? Let them go!"

The Doctor quickly took the phone from Martha, "I'm here."

Martha glared at him and stormed away. Evy was about to go after her when Jack stopped her. "She needs time Eves," he said, "And we need to have a little chat."

She sighed, glancing behind her to see the Doctor walking off to speak to the Master, a safe enough distance away to not hear them, "Go on."

He let out a long breath, "The Master is your  _brother_?"

She nodded, "He was...I'm not so sure now...he's changed."

"You mean he wasn't always..."

"Completely insane and sociopathic?" she supplied, Jack looked uncomfortable, but she smiled reassuringly, "No, he wasn't. He was great, really, the best brother you could ask for. But it all changed when he was eight, each time child must go through an initiation that some say can drive you mad..."

"Is that what happened to him then?"

"Yeah, ever since that day, he started to change. It wasn't anything big, nothing noticeable, he was still my brother, for centuries after that he was still my brother...just...different. He loved me, I know he did," she smiled a bit, "I was his little sister, his baby sister...he actually used to tell me I was his world, that he'd protect me, he'd always be there for me..." she trailed off, it...hurt...to know that he'd survived the war, but that he'd fled it, that he'd left her there alone, abandoned her. She cleared her throat, "It was during the initiation that he began to hear these drumbeats in his head and I could too."

"Really?"

"It was faint at first," she reminisced, "I could only hear them when he was near me, but over time, as they grew louder for him, they did for me. I can even hear them now, faintly."

"So why aren't you insane too?"

"I wasn't meant to hear them," she shrugged, it was the only explanation she could come up with, "I can't be affected by them if I wasn't meant to. Something's blocking my connection to him though, dampening it, I can barely hear them at all. Just being on the same planet, in the same time period, as him should have me hearing them clearly but I'm not. There's something quieting it..."

"If something's blocking the connection, how did you connect to him before?"

"He was excited. When his emotions are heightened, his mental shields are less focused, the connection is stronger and I can hear him, I can see him."

"Like with the Doctor," he nodded as she did as well, he would definitely need a bit of time with this. He glanced over to see him getting frustrated on the phone, if Evy could read the Master's mind at times, it might give them an advantage, "So what are they saying now?"

She smiled sadly, "He's trying to bait the Doctor," she answered, "Talking about the war and how he ended it and..." her eyes widened as she stopped mid-sentence.

"What?" Jack frowned, concerned.

She swallowed hard, "He...he just said that..." she shook her head, "'You destroyed my world, now I'll destroy yours.'"

"You mean Gallifrey?" Jack asked, "Whatever he's planning to do to Earth is revenge for locking the planet?"

"No. It's too personal. If it was just about Gallifrey he'd have said planet, but he said  _world_..." she gasped, working it out, "Oh no..."

"What?"

She looked at Jack, tears in her eyes, "He remembers being Yana," he'd been Yana for so long, years compared to the months the Doctor had spent as John Smith, more of his life as the man would have slipped through, "He remembers what the Doctor said, that he was the LAST of the Time Lords. The Filter is working on the Master as well, he doesn't know I'm here..."

Jack's eyes widened as he realized what she had, "He thinks you died on Gallifrey...when the Doctor ended the war."

She nodded, "He doesn't know I'm alive..." she looked back at the Doctor, seeing confusion on his face as he eyed a shop with TVs in the window, "He thinks the Doctor killed me with the planet...and Earth was always his favorite planet...a world for a world..."

Jack nodded, deciding to leave the conversation for a while and they headed over to him.

"He can see us," the Doctor called, using the sonic screwdriver on the cameras around them. The Master said something on the phone but the Doctor wasn't listening, "He's got control of everything."

"What do we do?" Evy asked calmly as Martha jogged back to them.

"We've got nowhere to go," Jack added.

"Doctor, what do we do?" Martha gasped.

"Run for your life Doctor!" they could hear shouted over the phone.

"We run," the Doctor agreed before they all took off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...I guess we know whose 'secret brother' the Master is now. I suppose Martha hasn't been watching too much TV :) I feel so evil to stop it here, but I'd really like to keep up with the 2-part chapters, it makes the suspense just that little bit more :)
> 
> Next chapter...we learn which sort of child Evy was at the Schism and the Master's paranoia lets him see many things clearly, leading to a surprising discovery...


	19. The Sound of Drums (Part 2)

Evy walked quickly into a warehouse, carrying a bag of takeaway in her hands, to see the others within. The Doctor was sitting at the laptop while Jack fiddled with his Manipulator and Martha paced back and forth.

"How was it?" Jack asked, looking up.

She shrugged, setting the bag on the table, "No one saw me. I can be um, very sneaky," she smiled a bit at them, "Anything new?"

"I've got this tuned into the government wavelength so we can follow what Saxon's doing."

"It still says the Jones family taken in for questioning," the Doctor sighed, "No mention of Leo."

"He's not as daft as he looks," Martha cut in before sighing and flopping onto a chair, "I'm talking about my brother on the run. How did this happen?"

"Nice chips," Jack commented as Evy started unpacking the food and passing it out.

"Actually, they're not bad," the Doctor said as he popped one into his mouth.

Martha glanced at Jack, sending him a meaningful glance and a nod at the Doctor. He glanced at Evy, who shook her head slightly so Martha wouldn't notice, before he sighed and turned to face the Doctor, "So, Doctor, who is he? How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?"

He sent an apologetic look at Evy who just shrugged, it seemed true enough now.

"And what is he to you?" Martha added, "Like a colleague…"

"A friend, at first," the Doctor answered, Evy smiled slightly.

The Doctor and the Master  _had_  been the best of friends on Gallifrey. He was always inviting the Doctor over to their house but not often, most times her brother spent at the Doctor's house or in Academy, which made her a bit sad as she never got to see him much at the Academy. Between lessons and school work and the few friends she'd managed to make, she didn't see him while he was with his friends. He would make time, though, to see her. He always just knew when she was feeling lonely or hurt and would seek her out, to check on her. Always alone though. She'd asked him once why he didn't bring any of his friends to see her, thinking he was embarassed by her, he'd acutally laughed and told her that he was a right little trouble maker around his friends and wanted to maintain a 'good big brother' image around her. Besides that, he missed her and he wanted to spend time with just her, no friends, none of either of their friends, taking away from that.

She'd never met the Doctor face-to-face, heard stories of course, seen his picture, but that had been all...till the day he'd arrived on their doorstep looking for her brother after he'd lost his son and its mother. She doubted that the Doctor knew more than that his friend had a sister and what her name was, possibly an idea of what her first incarnation had looked like as a little girl. She and the Master had kept a small family portrait with them in their rooms at the Academy, just of them and their parents.

"I thought you were gonna say he was your secret brother or something," Martha commented, earning a snigger from Evy as the Doctor and Jack stared at her for her guess.

"You've been watching too much TV," the Doctor remarked.

"But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect," Jack mumbled. He'd immediately hoped the Doctor hadn't noticed him speak. The Doctor hadn't _really_  spoken of his home world much during the time he'd spent travelling with the man, all he knew about it came from Evy. Unlike the Doctor who had kept things inside, she had rather wanted to talk about their planet, remember the beauty of it, keep it alive in her memories.

Evy's eyes widened in fear for a moment before the Doctor sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Well, perfect to look at, maybe," he began, Evy and Jack breathed a sigh of relief, the man probably thought Jack was speaking from rumors and myths he'd heard in the 51st century about the lost planet, "And it was, it was beautiful. They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the Continent of Wild Endeavour, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords…"

As the Doctor spoke of their home world, Evy couldn't help but smile sadly as she remembered their planet the way it had been before the war.

"The oldest and most mighty race in the Universe looking down on the galaxies below, sworn never to interfere, only to watch. Children of Gallifrey, taken from their families at the age of eight, to enter the Academy. And some say that's when it all began. When he was a child…that's when the Master saw eternity."

Evy looked away as she noticed Jack glance at her. It truly had been where it all began. After that her brother constantly heard the drums. He'd been the same as he'd always been around her so she thought nothing of it, but over the centuries he slowly became a bit more cruel, a bit more sadistic. Never to her, no never to her. But heaven help anyone who hurt her. The more protective he became of her, the worse he grew towards others. The drums started to drive him mad, she'd blamed them for driving him to flee their planet the first time. He'd disappeared before the war even began, she'd heard stories of how he'd supposedly encountered the Doctor, battled him across the stars, laying traps for him. She hadn't wanted to believe it, that their friendship had somehow become such a bitter rivalry, but with her connection to the Doctor's mind, she saw it first hand, she blamed the drums. He would return, sometimes, visit her, acting like nothing had happened, like he missed her, and, try as she might, she could never stay angry with him despite what he put the Doctor through, the Doctor always survived, always defeated his traps, but...if he  _had_  ever been too seriously hurt...if she ever lost him completely...she honestly didn't know what she would feel towards her brother had he been responsible.

Eventually, the drums even drove him to war. As soon as the war began, he'd run to the front lines in an effort to relieve the drumming. It hadn't stopped, it never stopped. She heard it herself, it would never stop.

"As a novice, he was taken for initiation to the Untempered Schism, it's a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the Vortex," the Doctor's voice drew her out of her thoughts, "You stand there, eight years old, staring at the raw power of time and space, just a child. Some would be inspired, some would run away, and some would go mad."

"What about you?" Martha asked quietly.

"Oh, the ones that ran away," he replied with a grin, "I never stopped!"

Just then Jack's Manipulator beeped, "Encrypted channel with files attached. Don't recognize it."

"Patch it through to the laptop."

"Uh, since we're telling stories, um, there's something I haven't told you," Jack mumbled as he began fiddling with his Manipulator.

Evy glanced up, her eyes wide, as she thought about what he might be about to say, he wouldn't tell the Doctor about her would he?

"You work for Torchwood?" the Doctor demanded, standing and turning to him as the Torchwood logo appeared on screen.

Evy breathed a sigh of relief as Jack answered, "I swear to you, it's different. It's changed. There's only half a dozen of us now."

"Everything Torchwood did and you're part of it?"

"The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf," Jack assured him, stepping back from the angry Time Lord...only to hide behind the smaller Time Lady, "I rebuilt it, I changed it. And when I did that, I did it for you, in your honor."

"It's true," Evy replied, "I was there, it's changed a lot from the stories Jack told me about. The people there are genuinely kind, good people. Nothing like before."

The Doctor stared at her a moment, looking her in the eyes as though trying to detect any lie, but saw only the truth. He let out a huff of air, taking her word for it, and nodded.

The computer beeped drawing all their attention. The woman from Evy's last vision appeared, "If I haven't returned to my desk by 2200 hours, this file will be emailed to Torchwood. Which means, if you're watching this, then I'm…anyway, the Saxon files are attached. But take a look at the Archangel document. That's when it all started. When Harry Saxon became Minister in charge of launching the Archangel Network."

Various graphics began appearing on screen of satellites around the Earth, "What's the Archangel Network?" the Doctor asked.

Martha tossed him her cell, "I've got Archangel. Everyone's got it."

"It's the mobile phone network," Jack answered, "'Cos, look, it's gone worldwide. They've got 15 satellites in orbit. Even the other networks, they're all carried by Archangel."

The Doctor ran the sonic screwdriver across the phone, his eyes widening as he realized something, "It's in the phones! Oh, I said he was a hypnotist! Wait, wait, wait. Hold on."

He tapped the phone against the table and it started beeping the same 4-beat rhythm Martha had, "There it is. That rhythm, it's everywhere. Ticking away in the subconscious."

"What is it, mind control?" Martha stepped back.

"No, it's got to be subtler than that, if it were stronger people  _would_  question it..." Evy mumbled, stepping closer, listening, decoding the message hidden in the beats, "It's in the rhythm as a code…'Vote Saxon. Believe in me.' Spreading across the world…" she looked up to see the three of them staring at her, "What?"

The Doctor looked just the tiniest bit impressed before he snapped his fingers, "That's how he hid himself from me. 'Cos I should have sensed there was another Time Lord on Earth. I should have known way back. The signal cancelled him out."

Jack sent a little smirk at Evy, at least it explained what had been blocking her from hearing the Master completely before. She sent a little smirk back, if only the Doctor knew he'd been standing next to a Time Lady for ages without realizing it. One never had many opportunities to say they fooled the Doctor.

"Any way you can stop it?" Jack asked, getting back on topic.

"Not from down here," he shook his head, "But now we know how he's doing it."

"And we can fight back," Martha added.

"Oh, yes!" the Doctor grinned and immediately got to work on some sort of project he wouldn't tell them about.

Evy walked off to stare out a window of the warehouse as Martha sat, watching the Doctor at work. A moment later, Jack walked up to her, "So which one are you?" he asked quietly.

"Which one am I what?" she glanced at him.

"Which sort of child were you? At the Schism?"

She smiled, "You figure it out. You have one who ran, one who went mad, what does that leave?"

"You were one of the inspired?" he looked at her, eyes searching her.

She nodded, "Ever wonder how I'm so good at fixing things? I just…see things in new ways, that's all it really means. Where some see two options, I might see a third. It's like a puzzle that my mind is better at solving than it should be."

"Oi!" the Doctor called, motioning for them to come over. He held up his creations, four keys, "Four TARDIS keys, four pieces of the TARDIS with low-level perception properties because the TARDIS is designed to blend in. Well, sort of, but…now! The Archangel Network's got a second low-level signal. Weld the key to the network and…Martha," he stepped back, "Look at me. You can see me, yes?"

"Yep!" she remarked, missing the smirk on Evy's face as she realized what the Doctor had done.

"What about now?" he pulled the key over his neck and Martha immediately began looking away from him. As soon as she realize what had happened she tried to look back only to look away again, "No, I'm here," he waved at her, "Look at me."

"It's like…I know you're there but I don't  _want_  to know," she muttered.

"And back again," he took off the key, "See? It just shifts your perception a tiny little bit. Doesn't make us invisible, just...unnoticed. Oh, I know what it's like. It's like…it's like when you fancy someone and they don't even know you exist. That's what it's like. Come on!"

Martha glanced away from the two still standing there, a bit embarrassed, "You too, huh?" Jack asked her.

Martha rolled her eyes, "Only for a bit," she nodded at Evy, "Then I found out about her...sort of puts it in perspective."

"You told her?" Jack looked over at Evy.

Evy shrugged, "She sort of figured out something was up and cornered me."

"You're good," he grinned at Martha.

"Besides," Evy added, "She's my friend, I couldn't lie to her. And..." she sighed, "I wanted someone to talk to so I wouldn't have to keep calling you and Ianto up on the TARDIS phone and bothering you."

Jack looked at her softly, putting an arm around her shoulder, squeezing her, "YOU are NOT a bother."

She smiled at him, when the Doctor called out to them to get a move on, "Don't run. Don't shout. Just keep your voice down," he instructed as they walked through the streets, "Draw attention to yourself and the spell is broken. Just keep to the shadows."

"Like ghosts," Jack grinned.

"Yeah, that's what we are. Ghosts," he handed them each a key which they placed over their heads.

Evy hesitated a moment, a bit concerned that the Perception Filter on the keys would cancel out the one she was already wearing. But shook her head, the keys were tuned into the Archangel Network, hiding them from the Master and the system he'd created, it wouldn't affect her own Filter which was operating on a different base code and frequency.

~8~

It wasn't easy to stand there and watch Martha's family be carted off by the Master after he'd irritated the hell out of the American President, but they managed...barely.

"I'm gonna kill him," Martha murmured.

"Say I use this Perception Filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack asked in all seriousness.

"Jack," Evy shook her head.

"Now  _that_  sounds like Torchwood," the Doctor commented.

"Still a good plan," he mumbled, but sent an apologetic look at Evy, it was so easy to forget the man was her brother, they were SO different.

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply when Evy beat him to it, "He's a Time Lord."

He nodded, "Which makes him  _my_  responsibility. I'm not here to kill him. I'm here to save him."

Jack fiddled with his Manipulator, "Aircraft carrier  _Valiant._ It's a UNIT ship at 28.2N and 10.02E."

"How do we get onboard?" Martha asked.

"Does that thing work as a teleport?" the Doctor turned to Jack.

"Since you revamped it, yeah," he grinned, "Coordinates set."

The Doctor gripped the Manipulator, making sure everyone was touching it before activating it. Immediately they arrived in the engine room of the  _Valiant_. Martha and Jack fell to the ground, groaning.

Evy remained standing, thanking her lucky stars that the Doctor had his back towards her and wouldn't see her perfectly fine despite the other '51st century' person being in pain. She knelt down by Jack, helping him up, "Oh, that thing is _rough_ ," Martha muttered from the side.

"I've has worse nights," Jack argued, cracking his neck and nodding this thanks to Evy, "Welcome to the  _Valiant_."

"It's dawn!" Martha commented as she stepped nearer to the porthole, "Hold on, I thought this was a  _ship_. Where's the sea?"

"A ship for the 21st century," Jack explained, "Protecting the skies of planet Earth."

~8~

The Doctor, Martha, Jack, and Evy ran through the maintenance corridors as soon as they found the exit to the room when suddenly the Doctor stopped.

"We've no time for sightseeing!" Jack called, but the Doctor ignored him.

"No, no," he squinted his eyes shut, "Wait. Shh, shh, shh. Can't you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

It was a moment before Evy answered, "What is that?"

"Doctor, my family's on board," Martha remarked, walking past him.

"Brilliant!" the Doctor called, before leading them in the opposite direction, "This way!" they turned the corner and ran down the hall, the Doctor opening a door to reveal the TARDIS, "Oh, at last!"

"Oh, yes!" Martha laughed.

"What's it doing on the  _Valiant_?" Jack wondered.

Evy frowned, before pushing the door to the box open to reveal a very red, very different interior.

"What the hell's he done?" Jack demanded from behind her.

" _Don't_  touch it," Evy commanded.

"I'm not going to," Jack reaffirmed, glaring at the room.

"What's he done though?" Martha asked, looking around, "Sounds like it's…sick."

"It can't be," the Doctor whispered, "No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be!"

"Doctor what is it?"

"He's cannibalized the TARDIS…"

"Is that what it think it is?" Jack stepped back, looking at the Doctor.

But it was Evy who answered, "It's a paradox machine."

"As soon as this hits red, it activates," the Doctor explained, examining a dial, "At this speed, it'll  _trigger_..." he glanced at Jack's watch, "At two minutes past 8:00."

"First contact is at 8:00 and then two minutes later…" Jack trailed.

"What's it for?" Martha cut in, "What's a paradox machine do?"

"More importantly, can you stop it?"

"Not until I know what it's doing," he replied.

Evy nodded, "Press the wrong button, twist the wrong knob, and bye bye solar system."

"Then we've got to get to the Master," Martha glared.

"Yeah," Jack agreed, "How do we stop him?"

The Doctor grinned, "Oh, I've got a way. Sorry, didn't I tell you?"

~8~

The group entered the main room of the  _Valiant_ , the bridge,just as the President of America began his speech. "...as long as man has looked to the stars, he has wondered what mysteries they hold. Now we know we are not alone…"

"This plan," Jack whispered as they slowly made their way further into the room, "You gonna tell us?"

"If I can get this," he held up a key, "Around the Master's neck…"

"It'll cancel out his perception," Evy realized, knowing the Archangel Network was centered around the Master, tuned to him in a way, "They'll see him for real!"

The Doctor nodded, "It's just hard to go unnoticed with everyone on red alert. If they stop me…you've got a key."

"Yes, sir," Jack nodded.

"I'll get him," Martha agreed as well. Evy bit her lip and remained quiet but gave a short nod.

"And I ask you now, I ask of the human race, to join with me in welcoming our friends," the President continued, "I give you the Toclafane," the spheres appeared and began floating around him, "My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President-Elect of the United States of America, and designated representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the planet Earth and its associated moon."

"You're not the Master," the first Toclafane said.

"We like the Mr. Master," the second added.

"We don't like you," the third hissed.

"I…can be Master, if you so wish," the President began, growing a bit wary, "I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will."

"Man is stupid," the third nearly laughed.

"Master is our friend," the first commented.

"Where's my master, pretty please?" the second asked.

"Oh, alright then," the Master called, standing, "It's me! Ta da! Sorry. Sorry, I have this effect. People just get obsessed. Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know. It's crazy!"

"Saxon, what are you talkin' about?" the President hissed.

The Master glared, "I'm taking control, Uncle Sam. Starting with you," he turned to a sphere, "Kill him."

One of the spheres shot a laser at the President, disintegrating him. The room immediately burst into chaos with everyone trying to leave but the guards held them in with their weapons, "Now then, peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully," the Master spoke into the camera.

The Doctor leapt forward, trying to get to him, but the guards rushed forward and seized him, forcing him to kneel on the floor as the three of them pulled off their own keys, preparing to help.

"We meet at last, Doctor," the Master laughed, "Oh, ho! I love saying that!"

"Stop this!" the Doctor shouted, "Stop it now!"

"As if a Perception Filter's gonna work on me," he commented, shaking his head, before he looked at Jack, Martha, and Evy, still wearing her original Filter, in the back, "Oh, and look, it's the girlie and the freak. Although, I'm not sure which one's which. Oh, and a newcomer!"

Jack ran forward, ignoring Evy's calls, when the Master shot him with a laser, forcing him to the ground. Evy rushed to his side, well aware that he couldn't die, but alarmed nonetheless, she knew it hurt like hell whenever he died and came back. She felt for a pulse, but there was none.

"Laser screwdriver, who'd have sonic?" the Master smirked, "And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!"

Martha pulled her way out of the grip of a soldier and knelt by Jack as well. Evy flinched as the drumbeat pounded in her head with the Master's excitement.

"Master, just calm down," the Doctor tried again, "Just look at what you're doing. Just stop. If you could see yourself…"

The Master sighed and turned to the camera, "Oh, do excuse me, little bit of personal business. Back in a minute," he then turned to the guards, "Let him go."

They pushed the Doctor to the floor, "It's that sound, the sound in your head," he muttered, "What if I could help?"

"Oh, how to shut him up?" the Master wondered, "I know. Memory Lane!" he dropped down onto a small set of steps before the Doctor, "Professor Lazarus. Remember him? And his genetic manipulation device? Did you think that little Tish got that job merely by coincidence? I've been laying traps for you all this time. And if I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver…but, oh, if I only had the Doctor's biological code. Oh, wait a minute, I do!" he stood and walked over to a silver case, opening it to reveal the Doctor's severed hand that he had taken with him into the TARDIS after he'd stopped being Yana, "I've got his hand! And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it? Another hundred years?"

"No!" Evy called, trying to run to the Doctor's side but a firm grip on her arm prevented her. Jack had revived, but the Doctor was in pain as the Master aimed the screwdriver at him. He began flailing as he began to age.

"Teleport," Jack hissed to them, giving Martha his Manipulator.

Evy barely heard him, her gaze and attention on the Doctor, "I can't," Martha hissed back.

"We can't stop him. Get out of here. Get out."

The Master had stopped and the Doctor was slumped on the ground, now a very old man. Evy rushed to his side, helping him up as Martha crawled over to him as well, checking on him.

"Aw, she's a would-be doctor," the Master commented, his attention on Martha for the moment, "But tonight, Martha Jones, we've flown 'em in all the way from prison…"

The door opened to reveal Martha's family being pulled into the room.

"Mum!" Martha called.

"I'm sorry," her mother cried.

"The Toclafane," the Doctor asked, breathing heavily, "Who are they? Who are they?"

"Doctor, if I told you the truth, your hearts would break," he replied, smirking.

Evy flinched as a drumbeat hit, and with it a vision of what they were…

The spheres whirled around the Master, asking if everything was ready and he simply checked his watch, "Two minutes past," he turned and ran up the steps, his wife joining him, as he turned to the cameras again, "So! Earthlings. Basically, um, end of the world," he held up the screwdriver, "Here…come…the drums!"

Suddenly the song 'Voodoo Child' filled the room as a red rift parted in the sky outside with millions of spheres pouring out of it. The Master ran to the window, turning his back on the Doctor who leaned over to Martha as Evy held him, whispering to her.

Then there was screaming as the Master ordered the spheres to kill 10 percent of the population. Messages started flooding in from all over the world of people being slaughtered.

The Master, pleased with his work, turned just in time to see Martha disappear with the Manipulator.

"No!" he shouted, storming over to the Doctor, receiving word from his guard that he'd told Martha something, "What did you tell her?" he demanded, but the Doctor just looked up at him.

Evy flinched as the drum echoed in her mind, his anger was much worse than his excitement.

The Master pulled the Doctor up by his lapels, glaring at him, as he looked back at him defiantly, before backhanding him, sending him to the floor in an unconscious heap.

"Doctor!" Jack called, making his way to him. He looked up to see Evy holding the side of her head in pain. The drums were  _pounding_  now.

She was breathing heavily, trying to get them to stop or lessen, but it wasn't happening. It just got worse, to the point where she grabbed both sides of her head and hunched over, calling out the only thing she could think of, in a language only two other people in the room would be able to understand, " _Terrin stop it!_ "

The Master spun around so fast he might have gotten whiplash, "What did you say?"

He stared at her for a moment, watching as she crumpled to the floor, holding her head in agony, " _Make it stop!_ "

"What?" he repeated, taking a step towards her, Jack watching confused at the sight before him.

" _Please Rin,_ " she begged, peeking up at him from beneath her lashes, " _Make the drumming stop…_ "

The Master blinked and fell to his knees before her, reaching out timidly, almost fearfully, to pull her hands away from her face. She scrunched her face in pain, though it was lessening now that he was more shocked than angry. He glanced down at her neck, easily noticing her necklace and what it was trying to do, "A Perception Filter?" he asked himself, "What for?"

He reached out and, instead of yanking it off, gently unchained it, letting its effects fade. He gasped as he looked at the woman cowering before him.

" _Luna?_ "

To be continued…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am getting shivers for the next two chapters :) Now the Master knows, and with the way he gloats it might only be a matter of time before the Doctor does as well... And now we know what Evy's name on Gallifrey was, Luna :)
> 
> I know that somewhere the Master's actual name is listed as Koschei in a novel or something, but, since it's never been confirmed on the show, I've changed it to Terrin for this story. There's a reason for it though, the way I have names going for Gallifrey will come up later, probably either when we see River Song or The Death of the Doctor. I will say though that there's a pattern to a name and family lines. Terrin and Luna are their 'true' names, in this story I'm making it more of a thing that Time Lords can pick anything as their 'name,' a title like the Doctor, or a word in another language, or even a name from a different species like Evelyn (this will be brought up again and explained more during the River chapters, I can't wait to post those!).
> 
> Next chapter how will Evy be treated? Is there a reason behind why the Master wanted to wipe out Japan? Will a year trapped on the same vessel help or hurt the Doctor and Evy's slowly growing relationship of sorts?


	20. Last of the Time Lords (Part 1)

One long year had passed since the Master had taken over the entire planet and allowed the Toclafane to continue their needless killings. Things had gone sour for the Jones family. With Martha gone the Master had contemplated killing them to make the Doctor talk, but luckily Evy had stepped in, saying something about keeping them around as bait or leverage against Martha. It made her sick to have to think that way, to give him such an idea, but it kept them alive.

He'd made them into his personal servants, Mrs. Jones and Tish that is, Mr. Jones he'd set to work on the ship's maintenance. Jack had been led away and chained in a back room as a way to detain him while the aged Doctor had been given a small tent to sleep in. He'd originally been shoved in a cage, but that had lasted only a few days before a small tent was created. The Doctor had been concerned when, the same day he'd been given the tent, Evy had appeared with a bruised cheek. She'd just waved him off, giving him a small smile, and helped set up the tent.

She hadn't told him that she and the Master had had quite a few words about his treatment of the Doctor. She hadn't told him that the Master had struck her in his anger. She hadn't told him that the Master, realizing what he'd done, had immediately relented and removed the cage. He hadn't apologized, too embarrassed and ashamed of what he had done to the one person he swore to protect and care for. But she knew he was regretful and so she never mentioned it.

One thing she did regret though, was the Master discovering the fact that, while he knew that she had Linked to the Doctor, that the Doctor still hadn't Linked to her. It seemed he still had the ability to get things out of her through arguing. She should have been prepared for it, knowing how skilled he was at that back on Gallifrey, but it had been such a long time since they'd spoken, since they argued for that purpose last, she hadn't been ready. It slipped out...and now it made things difficult because the worst thing he could do to hurt the Doctor was attack the Earth. If the Doctor had been Linked to her, the worst thing would be to kill her and he would NEVER do that. It put her in a terrible position as well because if she got too out of hand he would threaten to kill the Doctor. She knew, deep down, no matter how twisted he became that he wouldn't put her through that sort of torture, killing her Link, but she was never certain what his madness would drive him to do 'in the moment' especially since she had put her Filter back on almost as soon as it had been removed and he sometimes forgot she was a Time Lady, she had been lucky in that regard as the Doctor had been an unconscious heap on the floor at the time and the Filter had been back in place before he'd woken. But still...she would always back down when he threatened the Doctor. More often than not though, she was able to talk him around or spin words till he relented to what she wanted. As he could argue to get her to let things slip, she could speak and get him to waver.

She'd been able to save Japan that way. He'd been ready to let them burn to death, to slaughter millions of people, and it would have been her fault. She hadn't known that he had cameras in place, watching her conversations with Jack when she would visit him. They didn't talk about things of importance for that very reason, that he might have cameras watching them, mostly sticking to stories of their pasts, jokes, how the day was going and other more trivial matters...but one day they'd been talking about Rose and the Master had flipped. He remembered everything he'd learned as Yana, all he'd heard. He'd heard her say herself that the Doctor loved Rose and he hadn't handled it very well. He knew she was Linked to the Doctor, that she loved him, and so, in his mind, that meant the Doctor should love her as well and only her, even if he wasn't Linked yet, even if he had no idea who she was. For him to even care about another woman was, to him, a betrayal and slight against his sister. He'd tried to take his anger out on Japan over a tiny failure, they'd made one less missile than was expected and it had been enough to set him off. She'd hunted him down when she'd learned about his plans, called to mind the slaughter of their own people, of their parents, and perhaps spoke of the technological innovations of Japan as a way to hold off on the attack. And then she'd demanded the removal of the cameras in Jack's holding cell.

Japan had been lucky. She could only talk him round so much before his anger got the best of him. But she'd gotten it to the point where the area in question had to do something truly grievous against the Master for him to destroy them. Those times when she had been unable to help she would hide away in the Doctor's tent with him, both sitting in silence, trying to ignore the gloats of the Master after his success in punishing the humans.

It had been during one of those times when they'd first taken to a sort of mathematical game to distract them if just a bit. It had started when Evy couldn't stand the sound of the Mater's voice anymore and had started on a sequence of numbers, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21…once she had reached the tenth number the Doctor had finished with 34. He'd then gone off on his own sequence of 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, 22, 29, 37, till Evy finished with 46. It was a game that was played on quite a few planets, especially Gallifrey, amongst school children. Mostly it was just saying some sort of pattern and the next person would figure out what the tenth number was.

She had been concerned though, with how the Master was treating her. He hadn't forced her into servitude like the Jones family. He hadn't chained her up like Jack. He hadn't even had her harmed. He'd treated her like a guest, like she truly  _was_  his sister, giving her her own room but having a guard escort and watch her whenever she wasn't in the same room as him or in her own room or speaking with Jack. She had been afraid that the Doctor would become suspicious with that, but he seemed relieved that she was still living and breathing by the end of the day. The Joneses on the other hand…they had become quite cold to her, glaring at her or watching her suspiciously. She knew they didn't trust her due to the Master's kind treatment of her. She didn't blame them.

She was walking towards the bridge first thing in the morning, the guard assigned to her for the day following her as soon as she stepped out of her room. It was what she did every day. She would walk there, see how the Doctor was, and stay there all day…unless the Master dragged her off or was planning an attack in which case she had to follow after him and argue against it. She and the Doctor had had many conversations over the year, sometimes over what the Master had recently done, sometimes over how he was treating Evy or the Doctor or the others. They would wonder about how Martha was doing. He'd told her what his instructions to Martha had been, much to the dislike of the Joneses who didn't doubt she would go running to the Master with the information. But she didn't. She would  _never_  turn her friend over like that.

"Citizens rejoice," she heard the Master speak over the audio system, "Your lord and master stands on high, playing Track 3."

Then 'I Can't Decide' began to play. She rolled her eyes at that, walking more down the hall toward the bridge. She wanted to get there quickly, see what sort of mood the Master was in to see if she would have to watch him for some sort of psychotic break or if he would be alright enough for her to meet and speak with Jack as she usually managed to do a few times a week. Keep his spirits up, bring some actual food, get a desk chair to adjust so he could sit down…

The doors to the bridge slid open only for her to see the Master running around the room with the Doctor in a wheelchair as Mrs. Jones cleaned up a spill on the table.

"I can't decide whether you should live or die though you'll probably go to Heaven," the song continued, the Master singing along, "Please don't hang your head and cry. No wonder why my heart feels dead inside. It's cold and hard and petrified. Lock the doors and close the blinds, we're goin' for a ride…"

She strode over to one of the control panels and slammed a button down, cutting off the music. The Master stopped pushing the Doctor and looked up to see her glaring at him, "Are you quite done now?" she asked.

She could see the Doctor tense as she spoke. She could feel through the Link that he was concerned for her. He was always afraid she would say something or do something that would upset the Master so much that she would earn his wrath. But she never seemed able to push it quite that far.

The Master just rolled his eyes and pushed the Doctor over to look out a window. Evy sighed and went to help Mrs. Jones. She'd only just taken a napkin to help when Mrs. Jones snatched it away with a glare.

"It's ready to rise, Doctor," the Master said. Evy turned to lean against the table and watch them by the window, "The new Time Lord Empire," the Toclafane flew by, "It's good, isn't it? Isn't it good? Anything? No? Anything?" he waved his hand in front of the Doctor's face, "Oh, but they broke your hearts, didn't they? Those Toclafane, ever since you worked out what they really are. They say Martha Jones…has come back home. Now why would she do that?"

"Leave her alone," Evy called from behind them.

The Master ignored her, focusing still on the Doctor, "But you said something to her, didn't you? On the day I took control. What did you tell her?"

"I have one thing to say to you," the Doctor replied, "You know what it is."

"Oh, no you don't!" he shouted, getting up and pushing the Doctor away. He rolled until he hit the wall.

Evy moved over to the Doctor, pulling him away from the wall and straightening him out as the system announced, " _Valiant_  now entering Zone One airspace. Citizens rejoice."

"Come on, people!" the Master clapped, "What are we doing? Launch Day in 24 hours!"

Evy glared at the Master as Mrs. Jones walked by, her glare faded fast when she noticed the Doctor moving his hand away from his lap just after Mrs. Jones glanced down at it. She frowned. When the Doctor had learned the Master was a Time Lord, he'd taken to masking his thoughts like he would as an average defense children on Gallifrey were taught, to keep their thoughts from others.  _She_  could still hear him since the Link was a much stronger connection than an average Time Lord would have, most of the time. The only time she couldn't hear him was when he was trying to hide something that he  _really_  didn't want the Master to hear, hiding everything with as strong a mental block as he could muster…which usually meant he was plotting something. She sighed, this wouldn't end well.

~8~

Martha and Tom Milligan were walking back to his truck after a close run in with the Toclafane as they'd tried to peek out at one of the the Master's sites. She was explaining to him why they hadn't seemed to detect her and how the Master had managed to take over the world. It had been a long year since she'd been back in London.

"…'cos the Master set up Archangel, that mobile network, 15 satellites around the planet, but really it's transmitting a low-level psychic field," Martha explained, "That's how everyone got hypnotized into thinking he was Harold Saxon."

"Saxon," Tom scoffed, "Feels like years ago."

"But the key's tuned in to the same frequency," she held up the key to the TARDIS, "Makes me sort of…not invisible, just unnoticeable."

"But I can see you."

"That's 'cos you wanted to."

"Yeah, I suppose I did," he admitted, a bit embarrassed.

"Is there a Mrs. Milligan?" Martha asked suddenly, curious.

"No. No. What about you?"

"No one for me," she smiled, "I…I used to think there might be someone…" she laughed lightly, "Turns out he belonged to Evy long before I met him."

"Evy?" Tom asked, eyes wide, "She's real?"

"Course she is," Martha frowned, "Why?"

"They say she's just a myth," Tom explained, stunned, "She's almost as famous as you…a girl who can sway the Master. Saved Japan from burning, talked him into getting bits of food for the workers, got him to agree to leaving some housing for us to live in…that girl's something else."

Martha smiled, nodding, "You have no idea," she got in the truck, "Come on. I've got to find this Docherty woman."

~8~

Evy was pacing her room. Jack had suggested yesterday that she keep to her rooms today. She wasn't sure why he'd asked, but she trusted him, she agreed…especially after Jack had said the Doctor had asked him to tell her that through the Joneses.

"Condition red!" the loudspeaker alerted.

"Shit!" she cursed, before racing down the hall. She was  _never_  listening to Jack again. Clearly the Doctor had been plotting something and if it was so extreme a situation that the alarms were going off, she would need to be there to keep the Master from killing someone.

"Repeat: condition red."

She ran through the doors of the bridge, stopping short at the sight of the Doctor holding the laser screwdriver at the Master. The Doctor looked over at her, startled by her appearance, before something flashed to the front of his mind.

He blinked and suddenly, it wasn't Evy standing there watching him. She was standing in a window, dressed in an evening gown from 1913, staring down at him as he held a gun. He blinked again and found himself back in the present.

He looked back up at the Master who had glanced between the two before laughing. The Doctor could never kill anyone in Evy's presence. Oh, he knew his sister had Linked to the Doctor, but it was quite obvious that he had not Linked to her. But even now, he'd seen hints of the Link trying to break through the Filter Evy wore around her neck. Something inside the Doctor was telling him not to kill the Master. He could never hurt her by killing her brother, even if he didn't realize it was her brother at all.

"Isomorphic controls," the Master grinned, leaning over to take the screwdriver from him. He straightened up a moment before backhanding the Doctor, sending him flying to the ground. Evy was at his side in moments, checking on him, "Which means they only work for me. Like this," he sent a bolt at Mrs. Jones, "Say sorry!"

"Sorry!" she shouted, "Sorry! Sorry!"

"Mum!" Tish called, running to her mother's side.

"Stop it!" Evy shouted, glaring at him.

He spun to face her, his face angry, "Did you have a part in this?"

"No," the Doctor answered quickly, "She had no idea."

"But I wish I had," Evy spat out.

"Didn't you learn anything from the blessed Saint Martha?" the Master glared at her as Lucy helped him put his jacket on, "Siding with the Doctor is a very dangerous thing to do," he spun around again, nodding towards the Joneses, "Take them away."

"Move!" the guards shouted, forcing them out, "Come on!"

"Okay," the Master seemed to calm, but the illusion was shattered when he shoved Evy aside and hefted the Doctor up, "Gotcha."

Evy stumbled, but Lucy caught her and steadied her. Evy gave her a thankful nod, taking the dazed woman's hand and offering her strength. Lucy had suffered just as much, if not more, than she had at the Master's hand.

"There you go, gramps," the Master dropped the Doctor in a chair by the table, "Oh, do you know, I remember the days when the Doctor, oh, that famous Doctor, was waging a time war. Battling Sea Devils and Axons. He sealed the rift at the Medusa Cascade single-handed. Ooh. And look at him now. Stealing screwdrivers. How did he ever come to this?" he laughed.

"How did you?" Evy countered, staring at him with pity as the Master glowered

"I just need you to  _listen_ ," the Doctor insisted.

"No, it's my turn," he shouted, "Revenge! Best served hot. And this time…it's a message for Miss Jones."

~8~

Evy was standing in a back room, staring at Jack's prone form as he stood chained. She'd been informed that he'd been shot during the Doctor's failed plot and was still technically dead. A minute later though, he gasped awake. She held out a glass of water for him to drink before setting it down.

"Why didn't you tell me about the plan to get the screwdriver?" she asked him right off the bat. She was speaking softly, she may have been able to convince the Master to remove the cameras from the room, but her guard escort was right outside the door, probably trying to listen in.

"The Doctor didn't want the Master to be angry with you," he sighed, "He's under the impression that the Master is only being nice to you as a way to show the Doctor he holds your life in his hands."

"That's not the only reason, is it?" she asked, he looked away, "The Joneses didn't want to tell me did they? They don't trust me."

"They think the Master is kind to you because you're on his side."

Evy nodded, she was expecting that, "Next time, at least let me know what your goal is if you won't tell me the plan to accomplish it. Even if I don't have a part in it. I could have told you it was isomorphic."

"Deal," Jack agreed, he'd rather avoid being shot again.

"Did you have a nice jog?" she laughed as he fidgeted.

"Good old exercise," he laughed as well.

"I'm sorry Jack," she frowned, "I keep trying to get him to let you go. Or at least unchain you. Or tie you up but get you out of this God awful room but he won't listen to me."

"It's alright," he assured her, "It makes me feel like the Juggernaut."

"The Juggernaut?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know," he smirked, "Gotta keep me chained up because once I get going you can't stop me."

She smiled at that, "I just wish I could do something more for you," she rubbed her head, "The Master's even more difficult to reason with in this incarnation."

"But you've done good so far," he tried to get her to smile again, "Saved Japan and all. You're probably the only one who knows him well enough to get through to him since he's dead set against the Doctor."

She shook her head, "It's impossible to know him."

"You're his sister," he frowned, "I would think you'd know him even better than the Doctor."

"It's not that," she sighed, "The Master that I spoke of, the brother I told you and Martha about...that's how I choose to remember him. How he was at first. He's changed, he's regenerated. The  _only_  person who can see who you truly are after regeneration is your Link. You may know someone well, you may have been around them long enough to see similarities between their regenerations, get an idea of who they really are deep down…but you can never be certain, only the Link can. It's like…we change so often due to our regenerations that our core beliefs, what we are really like, the things that never change, are buried so deep only the connection with the Link can see that far down," she looked around the room, "I've known him all my life, his first incarnation more than the others, and so far, the only thing I can almost say for certain about him is that he's stubborn and difficult to reason with."

Jack whistled, "Not a great combination in a psychopathic Time Lord."

"Tell me about it," she rolled her eyes, "The Link let's us see automatically which sort of person our Link is when they regenerate. So in a way, I  _can't_  know the Master well enough to really be able to do anything, despite him being my brother."

He nodded, it made sense. The Doctor he'd seen was much different than the first one he'd encountered.

She held up the water, able to give him one more sip before two guards entered the room and pulled her out.

It was time for the broadcast.

~8~

The Master had made sure that the signal of his next broadcast was strengthened so that anyone trying to watch would see it.

And see it Martha did.

She stood in Professor Docherty's lab with Tom, watching as a grainy, black and white Master appeared on screen.

"My people," he greeted, "Salutations on this, the eve of war. Lovely woman. But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there. Stories of a child, walking the Earth, giving you hope," he walked away from the camera to reveal Lucy standing in the background while Evy was being held in between two guards, looking relatively unharmed. He walked over to the Doctor, sitting in a wheelchair, "But I ask you…how much hope has this man got? Say hello, Gandalf. Except he's not that old but he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you stunted, little apes. What if it showed? What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All 900 years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?"

"No!" Evy shouted, struggling between the guards.

The Master ignored her, pointing the screwdriver at the Doctor and flipping it on, "Older and older and older."

"Stop it!" Evy screamed, shaking in pain as the Doctor writhed in agony.

Still, the Master ignored her, "Down you go, Doctor," Martha gasped as Evy fell to the ground just as the Doctor did, feeling his pain, "Down, down, down you go," finally, he pulled the screwdriver away, "Doctor."

He bent down to the pile of the Doctor's clothes lying on the floor, empty, save for a bump by the neck. Moments later a large domed head peeked out with huge, blinking eyes.

"No!" Evy shouted, pushing through the guards and rushing over, only to drop to a kneel by the Doctor's side, across from the Master who had his back to the camera. The Master reached out to touch her shoulder, but she whipped away, glaring at him, "You're a monster," she spat, the pain of the experience evident in her voice. Martha could see from the way she moved, the look in her eye, that she hurt all over and was more than a little angry at what the Master had forced her through.

The Master's hand, which had been reaching for her, curled into a fist as he turned to face the camera again, "Received and understood, Miss Jones?"

And then the transmission cut.

~8~

The Doctor pulled his little blanket closer to his body as he stood hunched over in a bird cage the Master had stuck him in. He turned slowly when he heard the door to the room being opened, but he smiled nonetheless when he saw Evy walk in.

She gave him a soft smile, "Hey," she pulled out a little bundle and slid it through the wires of the cage, "I got something for you."

He knelt down and held up a piece of the bundle to see a small makeshift suit that would fit him, "Thank you," he said hoarsely before moving to dress. Evy turned around to give him privacy.

"I don't know if they'll fit," she commented after a moment, "I just…I'm so sorry for what the Master did to you…I…I should have said something to stop him. Got him to focus on me instead of you…"

"Don't you ever," she heard just before she felt a small hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see him dressed and staring up at her, a serious expression in his large eyes, "Not for me."

She shook her head, "Always for you," she mumbled as a tear fell from her eyes at seeing him in such a condition.

He frowned, reaching out a small hand to wipe away her tear.

The doors to the room slid open again and they knew it was the Master entering with Lucy, "I should have known I'd see you here," the Master commented, his gaze on Evy.

But Evy just stiffened, not saying anything, she'd been giving him the cold shoulder for quite a while.

"Tomorrow, they launch," he continued, shrugging off her silence, "We're opening up a rift in the Braccatolian space. They won't see us coming. Kinda scary."

"Then stop," the Doctor told him.

"Once the empire is established and there's a new Gallifrey in the heavens, maybe then…it stops," he sighed, walking around to look at the Doctor through the bars before looking up at Evy, "The drumming. The never-ending drumbeat."

Evy flinched as she saw the ghost of a memory flutter across her mind of the first time he'd heard the drumbeat, standing by the Schism.

"Ever since I was a child," the Master turned back to the Doctor, "I looked into the Vortex. That's when it chose me. The drumming, the call to war. Can't you hear it? Listen, it's there now. Right now. Tell me you can hear it, Doctor. Tell me."

"It's only you," the Doctor replied.

The Master straightened up, looking at Evy who was looking away. She could hear it as well. He smirked, this meant the Doctor still didn't know Evy was a Time Lady.

"Good," his grin widened.

It wasn't that he didn't want his sister to be happy, to be with her Link...even if it  _was_  the Doctor…but she was  _his_  sister first. He didn't want to share her with anyone else, not now, not when there were only the three of them left. He'd been sorely tempted to gloat about it right in the Doctor's face, tell him that he'd been hanging around a Time Lady the entire time and failed to notice, that HE had figured it out first. But then that desire had faded to taunting him with bits and pieces, hints about who Evy was, wanting to torment him with the thought that another one of their people was alive but he was trapped there. Even that desire had faded to utter silence. He didn't want to say anything. This was Evy, his sister, his Luna, he thought she'd  _died_. To have her back...he wasn't about to share that secret with anyone, let alone  _the Doctor_. He was going to keep her secret as long as he could, as long as he did she would be HIS sister not  _the Doctor's_  Link. HE would be the only one she could come to to talk about the war, about their planet, their traditions, her pain and loss and nightmares, NOT the Doctor.

The doors open and whir could be heard as a Toclafane entered, "Tomorrow, the war. Tomorrow we rise. Never to fall."

"You see?" the Master turned and gestured to the Toclafane, "I'm doing it for them! You should be grateful! After all, you love them. So very, very much," he walked over and sat down at the table, staring at the Doctor as Evy just stared down at the floor, knowing where her brother's thoughts were leading without even having to read his mind, "I took Lucy to Utopia. A Time Lord and his human companion. I took her to see the stars. Isn't that right, sweetheart?"

"Trillions of years into the future," Lucy commented, "To the end of the Universe."

"Tell him what you saw."

"Dying. Everything dying. The whole of creation was falling apart. And I thought…there's no point. No point to anything. Not ever."

"And it's all  _your_  fault," the Master told the Doctor, "You should have seen it, Doctor. Furnaces, burning. The last of humanity screaming at the dark. All that human invention that had sustained them across the eons. It all turned inwards. They cannibalized themselves."

The Doctor looked up to see Evy looking away, at the ground, regret and pity in her eyes. He reached out and put a hand on one of her fingers which were wrapped around a bar of the cage. She looked up at him, startled out of her thoughts, and gave him a sad smile.

And he realized, she'd worked out what the Toclafane were a long time ago.

"We made ourselves so pretty," the Toclafane agreed.

"Regressing into children," the Master continued, eyeing them, "But it didn't work. The Universe was collapsing around them," he laughed, thinking of how he'd accomplished all of this, "My masterpiece, Doctor. A living TARDIS, strong enough to hold the paradox in place, allowing the past and the future to collide in infinite majesty."

"But you're changing history," the Doctor argued, "Not just Earth, the entire Universe."

"I'm a Time Lord. I have that right."

"No one deserves that right," Evy turned to glare at him, "No one, not even Time Lords should have that power."

"Why come all this way just to destroy?" the Doctor continued, looking at the sphere.

"We've come backwards in time to build a brand new empire lasting 100 trillion years," the Toclafane answered.

"With me as their master," the man grinned, "Time Lord and humans combined. Haven't you always dreamt of that, Doctor?" he walked towards the Doctor, Evy stepping in front of him just enough to warn the Master away. He stopped, "Human race. Greatest monster of them all. Night-night," he waved at them before walking out of the room, the Toclafane and Lucy following.

As soon as the doors had shut the Doctor looked back up at Evy, "You knew the Toclafane were the humans, didn't you?"

She nodded.

He nodded as well, "Why didn't you tell me?"

She frowned and looked at him, her hearts breaking for him, "The Master was right about one thing, it would break your hearts to know about them…I didn't want to hurt you."

~8~

The Doctor stared down from the birdcage at Evy, asleep on the edge of the table. He'd asked her to go back to her room to sleep but she'd refused to leave him. He smiled as he watched her. There was just something about her he could never seem to put his finger on. She was special, he knew that much…she was special to him, he was certain.

Throughout the whole year, it had been Evy that kept him going, that kept his spirits up, kept up his hope that Martha would succeed. Their conversations, their math games, sometimes even their silence was what kept him sane. He didn't want to admit it, but he'd become a bit dependent on her during the year.

He…he didn't feel right when she wasn't near him. Her presence was calming. It felt like that hole that had formed after the Time War was gone when she was around. He didn't feel quite so lonely. He would often tell her stories about his adventures, his more embarrassing ones, whenever she seemed sad or hurt by something. He'd never told anyone those sorts of stories, but with Evy…he just wanted to see her laugh or smile. It didn't matter if he made a fool out of himself as long as he could lighten her spirits. He'd noticed that he'd taken to holding her hand as well, whenever they were close enough for him to reach her. It comforted him in a way he just couldn't describe. He was also heartened by the fact that she didn't treat him any differently because of his aged appearance, she looked at him as though he were still the youthful Doctor, like he was still that amazing person even though he was the Master's prisoner. And the way she seemed able to handle the Master…the only person he'd seen able to run round the Master like she was had been himself.

She really was amazing.

His thoughts were cut off by the sound of the door sliding open. Evy was up on her feet at the sudden noise.

"You sent her after a gun!" the Master shouted. Evy's eyes widening when she saw the Master holding the laser screwdriver at the Doctor. She was wide awake now as she moved to stand completely in front of the birdcage.

"Evy, no!" the Doctor called, reaching out to rest a hand on her back.

"Put that down," Evy glared at the Master.

"Get out of the way," the Master countered, his voice deep with threat.

"No," Evy stated, her body tensing, "If you want to kill him, you have to kill  _me_  first."

The Doctor held his breath at the silence that followed. Any moment now Evy's body would fall to the ground having been killed by the Master.

But then…when he was sure at least a minute had gone by…something happened, but not what he was expecting.

The Master started laughing.

And then there was a 'clink' as the laser screwdriver was placed on the table.

The laughter got louder as the Master walked forward, clapping this time. Evy stepped away from the cage, taking a few steps back as the Master walked over to her.

"Good show," he grinned at her before reaching out and grabbing her arm, "Let's see if you can give Martha one just as good."

"Master!" the Doctor called as the man half dragged the girl out of the room. He felt his hearts drop into his stomach in fear of what would happen next.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small change to come for series 4 and onward: I originally wanted to do a 2-part chapter for a whole episode, but 2-parter episodes (like with the Sontarans and River) could be seen as just one giant episode that's already broken up in two. So I'm going to write those episodes in 2 chapters total, one per episode. It would break up the 2-part chapter thing and every so often you'd get a long, complete episode chapter. 
> 
> Next chapter the Master goes to extremes to get Martha out in the open, two people will die on the Valiant, and quite a few secrets come out.


	21. Last of the Time Lords (Part 2)

Martha smiled as she sat on a staircase in one of the Master's slave houses, surrounded by people hanging on her every word as she told them a story of the most remarkable man she'd ever met.

"I travelled across the world," she began, "From the ruins of New York, to the fusion mills of China, right across the radiation pits of Europe. And everywhere I went, I saw people just like you, living as slaves. But if Martha Jones became a legend, then that's wrong because  _my_  name isn't important. And neither is Evy, the woman who can talk the Master out of his horrible plans. She's real, she's not a myth, but we're not important. There's someone else. The man who Evy fights to protect. The man who sent me out there. The man who told me to walk the Earth. His name is the Doctor. He has saved your lives so many times, and you never even knew he was there. He never stops. He never stays. He never asks to be thanked. But I've seen him. I know him. And I know what he can do…"

"It's him!" a woman shouted suddenly, pushing her way in from the door, "It's him! Oh my God, it's him! It's the Master! He's here!"

Martha moved to stand, ready to confront him, but was held back.

"But he never comes to Earth!" a boy commented, "He never walks upon the ground!"

"Hide her!" the woman called to the rest around Martha.

"Use this!" Tom tossed over a jacket to cover her before he ran to the door, squatting by the mail slot with his gun cocked.

"He walks among us, our lord and master," the boy breathed.

"Martha!" the Master began to call, "Martha Jo-hones," his voice went high, "I can see you!" before it went normal again, "Out you come, little girl. Come and meet your master. Anybody? Nobody? No? Nothing?" there was silence for a moment before he uttered the words that would make Martha fear, "And Evy was so looking forward to seeing you again!"

Martha's eyes widened, "Evy?" she breathed.

"Alas," the Master continued, "It seems she has served out her usefulness then. Positions!"

There was the sound of guns cocking and then another voice began to shout, "Martha don't do it!"

"Evy!" Martha sat up, pushing the coat off her. The people around the house looked stunned, they'd assumed the Evy woman was a myth and even with Martha claiming she was not, they now had proof the woman existed.

"Don't listen to him!" Evy shouted again, "Whatever you do, don't lis…"

There was a muffled noise as Evy's mouth was covered by the Master's hand, "I'll give the order unless you surrender," he shouted, "Ask yourself…" Martha could hear the smirk in his voice with his next words, "What would  _the Doctor_  do to save this  _special_  girl?"

Martha gasped as she realized the Master knew about Evy's Link with the Doctor. He was willing to kill Evy just to get to the Doctor.

She looked down at the TARDIS key around her neck and moved to take it off. Evy had once risked her life to save Martha's from the Family. She would willingly and gladly do the same to save her from the Master. She couldn't let the Doctor's Link die, not without him knowing the truth.

She got up slowly and moved to the door. She reached out and lowered Tom's hand holding the gun before smiling at everyone and walking outside. She tried to keep from flinching at the sight of the Master standing behind Evy who was kneeling on the ground, her hands cuffed behind her as the Master held a hand over her mouth.

"Oh, yes!" he grinned, removing his hand from Evy to clap, "Oh, very well done! Good girl! He trained you well."

"Martha go back!" Evy shouted as Martha continued to walk down the street.

A guard reached out and backhanded her, sending her to the ground. He only remained standing for one more second before the Master turned the laser screwdriver on him, killing him. He wasn't really going to let the men kill her, he knew Martha would come running.

Martha stopped walking for a moment at the sight of the Master glaring at the man's body. It wasn't the actual glare, it was the protectiveness in his eyes that startled her.

"Bag," the Master turned back to her, "Give me the bag. No, stay there. Just throw it," she took off the pack and threw it onto the ground before him as he fired the laser at it, destroying everything, "And now, good companion, your work is done."

He held out the laser at her as Evy shouted "No!"

But there was another voice shouting the same thing from behind them.

Martha turned just in time to see Tom running towards her, gun aimed at the Master, before he too fell to the ground, struck by the laser.

The Master laughed before aiming his laser at Martha again.

"Don't!" Evy shouted, "Don't you  _dare_  kill her in front of  _me_!"

The Master raised an eyebrow in thought at her words before smirking, "Yes…the Doctor should be witness, hmm?" he inhaled deeply, lowering his laser, "Almost dawn, Martha. And planet Earth marches to war."

He nodded towards one of the guards who went forward and grabbed her.

~8~

"Citizens of Earth, rejoice and observe," the Master's voice said over the loudspeaker as Martha and Evy were brought to the bridge of the  _Valiant_.

The Master had a grip on Evy's now unbound arm and was leading her in as two guards followed behind, Martha between them. The Joneses were off to the side of the room, guards near them, as was Jack on the other side of the room. The Doctor's cage had been moved to the side of the steps while Lucy watched from atop.

The Master shoved Evy away and she stumbled, before straightening herself out and walking to stand next to the Doctor. Martha was led to the middle of the room as the Master walked up the steps.

"Your teleport device," he demanded, turning around, "In case your thought I'd forgotten," Martha reached into her pocket and pulled out the Manipulator, tossing it to him, "And now…kneel," he watched in satisfaction as she did so, "Down below the fleet is ready to launch. 200,000 ships set to burn across the Universe," he walked over to the comm. link, "Are we ready?"

"The fleet awaits your signal," a man replied, "Rejoice!"

"Three minutes to align the black hole converters," he turned and flicked on a clock on the wall to count down the seconds, "Counting down! I never could resist a ticking clock. My children, are you ready?"

"We will fly and blaze and slice!" came the cry of the millions of spheres hovering over the Earth, "We will fly and blaze and slice!"

"At zero, to mark this day, the child, Martha Jones, will die," the Master announced, "Ha, my first blood. Ha, any last words? No?" he looked over at Evy who was glaring at him from beside the Doctor. He smirked at the shriveled alien, "Such a disappointment, this one. Days of old, Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the Time Vortex. This one's useless!" he turned back to Martha, "Bow your head. And so it falls to me, the Master of all, to establish from this day, a new order of Time Lords! From this day forward…" Martha laughed, "What? What's so funny?"

"A gun?" Evy called from the side, he turned to see Evy smiling now.

"What about it?"

"A gun in four parts?" Martha raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, and I destroyed it."

"A gun, in four parts, scattered across the world? I mean, come on. Did you  _really_  believe that?"

"What do you mean?" he took a step back.

"As if I would ask her to kill," the Doctor smiled, leaning forward in the bars.

"Oh, well, it doesn't matter. I've got her exactly where I want her."

"But I knew what Professor Docherty would do," Martha explained, "The Resistance knew about her son. I told her about the gun, so she'd get me here. At the right time."

"Oh, but you're still gonna die!"

"Don't you wanna know what I was doing? Travelling the world?"

"Tell me."

"I told a story, that's all. No weapons, just words. I did just what the Doctor said. I went across the continents all on my own. And everywhere I went, I found the people, and I told them my story. I told them about the Doctor. And I told them to pass it on, to spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor."

"Faith and hope?" the Master laughed, "Is that all?"

"No, 'cos I gave them an instruction," she stood, "Just as the Doctor said. I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time…"

"Nothing will happen!" he insisted, "Is that your weapon? Prayer?"

"Right across the world," Evy smiled proudly at her friend, "One word, one thought, one moment…with  _15 satellites_!"

"What?" his eyes widened.

"The Archangel Network."

"A telepathic field binding the whole human race together, with all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time," Martha laughed, "And that word…is Doctor."

The countdown reached zero just as a glowing field surrounded the Doctor. Evy smiled more and took a few steps away as the glow around the Doctor began to grow and expand.

"Stop it!" the Master yelled, "No, no, no, no you don't!"

"Doctor," Jack whispered, closing his eyes to focus.

"Doctor," Mrs. Jones followed suit.

"Don…" the Master looked around in horror as various security screens showed crowds of people across the world gathering outside, all chanting Doctor, "Stop this right now! Stop it!"

"Doctor," Lucy added.

"Doctor," Jack chanted.

"Doctor," Martha said.

The energy field expanded, breaking the cage, transforming the Doctor from the shriveled alien to an old man, reversing the process.

"I've had a whole year to tune myself into the psychic network and integrate with its matrices," the Doctor explained.

"I order you to stop!" the Master demanded as more and more people began to chant Doctor all over the world.

Evy smiled, glancing right at her brother before shutting her eyes, "Doctor."

The field around the Doctor swelled at the addition of Evy's thoughts. She'd been able to tap into the Archangel Network's psychic network as well, her mind amplifying the rest as the Doctor returned to his normal self.

"The one thing you can't do," the Doctor continued, "Stop them thinking," Martha and Jack laughed while the Master looked shocked. Using the telepathic field, the Doctor began to levitate, "Tell me the human race is degenerate now when they can do  _this_."

Martha ran to her family, hugging her mother and sister.

"No!" the Master shouted, firing his laser at the Doctor, but the field deflected it.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor shook his head at the Master, "I'm so sorry."

"Then I'll kill them!" he turned his laser at Martha and her family, about to fire, when it suddenly flung out of his hand and landed on the floor across the room. He looked up, shocked, to see Evy, behind the Doctor, now with a small drop of blood leaking from her nose, unknown to the Doctor who was focused on the Master.

Jack, seeing the blood on Evy's face, made his way over to her, wiping it gently off her with his sleeve.

"You can't do that!" the Master shouted, staring at Evy in horror, realizing what had just happened. He panicked, finding himself unarmed, as he turned to the Doctor, "You can't do…it's not fair!"

"And you know what happens now," the Doctor finished.

"No!" he backed away as the Doctor floated over to him, "No!" he fell to the ground, cowering, "No! No!"

"You wouldn't listen…"

"No!"

"Because you know what I'm going to say."

"No!" he curled into a fetal position against the wall, trying to keep the Doctor away. Evy looked on sadly at the sight of her brother reduced to that.

The Doctor gently landed on the ground, the field diminishing as he walked over to the Master and knelt at his side, wrapping him in his arms, "I forgive you."

"My children!" the Master called suddenly, "Protect the paradox!"

The call of the spheres came across the audio, "Protect the paradox! Protect the paradox!"

"The paradox machine!" Evy turned to Jack.

"You men!" Jack called to the guards before rushing out of the room, "With me!"

The Master pulled out the Manipulator and activated it just as the Doctor grabbed him, both of them disappearing.

"No!" Evy shouted, jolting forwards, but she was too late. She quickly ran to the controls, scrunching her eyes shut as she homed in on the Doctor, punching in some coordinates and they appeared on the visual screen, materializing on a rocky cliff.

"Now it ends, Doctor," the Master called, spreading his arms as thunder rolled in the background, " _Now_  it ends."

Alarms began to sound at the shipyard near them.

"We've all 6 billion spheres heading straight for us!" Martha called, rushing up to Evy.

"Come on Doctor," Evy muttered, hoping he'd be able to talk the Master down before she would have to find a way to lock the  _Valiant_ 's weapons on the Toclafane.

"We've got control of the  _Valiant_ ," the Doctor said to the Master on the screen, "You can't launch."

"Oh, but I've got this," the Master held up a device.

"No!" Evy gasped, her eyes widening as she saw it.

"What?" Martha asked, "What is it?"

"Black hole converter," she breathed. Not good.

"One inside every ship," the Master explained, "If I can't have this world, Doctor, then neither can you. We shall stand upon this Earth, together, as it burns!"

Martha gasped as the Toclafane appeared through the window. Evy punched in a command hesitating, not wanting to set the ship to fire, waiting for the Doctor, but he'd best  _hurry_...

"Weapon after weapon after weapon," the Doctor called to the Master, stepping closer to him with each word, "All you do is talk and talk and talk. But over all these years…and all these disasters, I've always had the greatest secret of them all. I know you. Explode those ships, you kill yourself. That's the one thing you can never do," he held out his hand, "Give that to me."

The Master looked down at the device in his hand before looking at the Doctor, "You're wrong…I  _could_  do it…" he held up the device, about to press it, when he hesitated, "But I could  _never_  kill  _her_."

He slapped the device into the Doctor's shocked hands. He was confused as to what the Master was talking about. Lucy? Her? Had he  _actually_  found _love_?

Just then the ground started to shake as the  _Valiant_  jolted. The Doctor and the Master began to fight for control of the Manipulator when the Doctor finally got a hold of it and transported them back to the  _Valiant_  which was rocking back and forth, sparking and shaking.

"Jack did it!" Evy shouted over the chaos, rushing to Martha's side, "He destroyed the paradox machine!"

They were thrown back, only to be caught by the Doctor who smiled at them, "Everyone down!" he shouted, "Time is reversing!"

Then they all were thrown to the floor. The Doctor instinctively reached out for Evy, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her close to him while she grabbed Martha's hand, laughing as they fell face-to-face with her. The Doctor grinned, reaching out another hand to put it over the girl's, all holding on as time rolled back.

It lasted only a minute or two but it was one hell of a ride. As soon as things began to still, Evy and the Doctor were on their feet, checking the controls.

"The paradox is broke," the Doctor confirmed as he looked at the readings.

"We've gone back, one year and one day," Evy added, flipping on a comm. link, "Two minutes past 8:00 in the morning."

"This is UNIT Central," a man came over the comm., "What's happened up there? We just saw the President assassinated!"

"You see?" the Doctor turned to the rest of the people in the room, "Just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived. Everything back to normal. Planet Earth restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror. It never was."

"What about the spheres?" Martha frowned.

"Must be back at the end of the Universe," Evy replied with a shrug.

"But I remember it," Mrs. Jones argued.

"We're the eye of the storm, we'll be the only ones who will ever know."

The Doctor nodded before seeing Mr. Jones, "Oh, hello! You must be Mr. Jones! We haven't actually met."

As the Doctor shook his hand, the Master turned and ran…straight into Jack.

"Whoa, big fella!" Jack called, grabbing him, "You don't want to miss the party," he turned to the guard, "Cuffs!" and proceeded to cuff the Master behind his back, "So, what do we do with this one?"

"We kill him," Mr. Jones glared.

"We execute him," Tish stepped up.

"No," Evy shook her head, stepping up, only to slow when she saw Mrs. Jones lifting a gun.

"That's not the solution," the Doctor agreed.

"Oh, I think so," Mrs. Jones said, aiming the gun at the Master as Evy's eyes widened, she slowly crept towards him, holding her hands up so Mrs. Jones wouldn't shoot her as she moved, "'Cos all those…things, they still happened because of him. I _saw_  them."

"Go on!" the Master smirked, "Do it!"

"Stop it," Evy chastised him.

He glanced at her, his smirk fading just a bit as he realized he was basically asking the human to kill him in front of his sister.

"Francine, you're better than him," the Doctor said calmly, reaching out and taking the shaken woman's hand, lowering the gun before pulling her into a hug for a moment till Martha took over.

"You still haven't answered the question," the Master cut in, "What happens to me?"

"You're my responsibility from now on," the Doctor sighed, "The only Time Lord left in existence."

"Yeah, but you can't trust him," Jack said, walking over to the Doctor, not bothering to correct him. Technically the two men  _were_  Time _Lords_ , Evy was a Time  _Lady_.

"No," he agreed, "The only safe place for him is the TARDIS."

"You mean you're just gonna…keep me?" the Master frowned.

"Hmm," he nodded, "If that's what I have to do," he looked over at Jack, "It's time to change. Maybe I've been wandering for too long. Now I'll have someone to care for."

A gunshot rang out.

The Doctor spun to see Evy stumble backwards, the Master on the ground where he'd been pushed, and a dazed Lucy with a gun. Jack immediately went to take the gun from her as the Doctor watched Evy sink to her knees on the ground. He was about to run to her when something happened that made him stop dead.

The Master had managed to get his arms around his legs so his hands were in front of him. He skid to Evy's side, catching her as she began to fall backwards, gasping for breath. What startled the Doctor into action were the tears in the Master's eyes as he began shouting for help.

"Please!" the Master called, "Uncuff me!  _Please_!"

The Doctor ignored him, moving to Evy's other side and pulling the sonic out to check on her when suddenly the Master reached out and grabbed it, using it to uncuff himself. The guards started to surge forth but the Master, instead of escaping, just pulled Evy into his arms.

"Regenerate!" he commanded, shaking her, trying to keep her awake, "Regenerate now!"

"She's a human," the Doctor replied quietly, the man must be more insane than he thought, thinking Evy was a Time Lord, "She can't regenerate."

"Are you really  _that_  daft?" the Master spat, glaring at the Doctor, "Haven't you noticed how you  _haven't_  noticed her?"

The Doctor looked a bit startled at that and glanced down at Evy's gasping body cautiously, "A Perception Filter?" he asked himself, noticing her necklace for the first time, the little hourglass that he still didn't want to look at.

Evy gasped, sorrowfully looking up at the Doctor, "Th-Theta," she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

His eyes widened and his shook his head in disbelief, "No…no!" he glared at the Master, "You told her that! You  _told_  her!"

A small pressure on his hand made him look down, to see Evy holding it, " _I'm…sorry…_ " she breathed, speaking in a language she couldn't have known, a language the Master couldn't have taught her in the time they'd been on the  _Valiant_.

Her head began to loll.

" _Regenerate!_ " the Master ordered again, speaking the same language as her, " _Luna, regenerate!_ "

" _Luna?_ " the Doctor asked, slipping into Gallifreyan as well. He vaguely recalled that name from Gallifrey. His eyes widened as his gaze snapped up to the Master, Luna had been the name of the man's sister.

Evy/Luna took in a deep breath as the regeneration process began. The Doctor backed away in shock that she truly  _was_  regenerating, while the Master tried to stay and hold her despite the violent gusts of her regeneration energy but was ultimately forced back by it.

Moments later, Evy sat bold up right, gasping for breath, completely healed, looking very different. Where she had once been brunette with green eyes she now had black hair and light blue eyes. She was paler than her previous incarnation and seemed just a few inches taller.

"I don't believe it," the Doctor whispered, staring at her in shock and awe.

The Master didn't give her time to reply as he pulled her to him in a bone crunching hug. Evy hugged him back until his stiffening in her arms caused her to pull away. She looked down to see blood seeping though the front of his clothes.

He slumped into her arms as she looked up to see Mr. Jones with a gun of his own in his hands, "I told you I'd do it," he said to his wife, before dropping the gun. It didn't matter what touching moment had just transpired, the man was a monster. One act of mercy could not make up for all the evil he'd done to them and the Earth.

Evy was horrified, staring down at her brother now dying in her arms, such a role reversal. The Doctor moved to his other side, " _Terrin,_ " she whispered, tears forming, " _Regenerate._ "

He smiled up at her and shook his head, " _No._ "

She shook her head as well, shaking him, " _No! Regenerate! Regenerate! I regenerated, now you have to too!_ "

" _I won't. I won't be his prisoner._ "

" _But you'll be with me,_ " she whispered brokenly, " _Please, Rin…just regenerate._ "

He reached up and she took his hand, "I don't want you to see me imprisoned," he whispered back, returning to English, "I don't want you to hate me. I can't live with that."

"I _don't_  hate you," she replied honestly, no matter what he did, "I  _never_  could."

"One day," he nodded, his head drooping slightly, "One day you will…I'm sorry little sister…"

Realizing he was serious and not about to regenerate she scooped him up and pressed him to her chest as she rocked him, wanting to give him as much comfort as she could. No matter what, he was still her brother, she couldn't let him die alone.

"What do you know," he whispered weakly, "It's not a drum…it's a heart…"

And then he was gone.

Evy broke down, sobbing into her brother's hair as the Doctor simply put a hand on her shoulder.

~8~

They decided to burn the body. After seeing how Evy reacted, realizing he'd just shot her brother, Mr. Jones wished to attend the funeral, he hadn't known that the man had been her family, not that it would have made a difference in swaying his hand to not shoot. He still felt the need to at least pay his respects to the brother of a girl who had kept his family alive and saved pieces of the Earth from destruction. His family had come as well, Jack was there too and the Doctor. Lucy was nowhere to be found.

As the Doctor lit the pyre and stood back, Evy took a step up, staring at the flames before singing a soft song in Gallifreyan. It was a song of mourning, the Doctor explained to the small group as she finished. Everyone had tears in their eyes from the song and the sorrowful way it was sung even if they couldn't understand a word of it.

~8~

The Doctor, Martha, Jack, and Evy were standing at the rails of a building in Cardiff just overlooking the bay, Evy still in her last incarnation's clothes having not gotten a chance or the will to change yet. Jack had an arm around Evy who was staring at the people, unseeing, sad. The Doctor had yet to speak a word to her. She couldn't hear his thoughts either, he was blocking them from her, his mental barriers up to the strongest they coudl go, blocking even the Link which hurt her a great deal. It was one thing to hide his thoughts like that because he didn't want the Master to accidently hear something, it was another to block them just because it was  _her_.

"Time was, every single one of these people knew your name," Martha commented to the Doctor, "Now they've all forgotten you."

"Good," the Doctor nodded.

"Back to work," Jack said, stepping away from a private conversation with Evy. He'd basically just offered her a spot in Torchwood if things didn't work out with the Doctor. Ianto missed her, the others did too.

"I really don't mind, though," the Doctor cut in, "Come with me."

"I had plenty of time to think that past year, the Year-That-Never-Was," Jack shook his head, "And I kept thinking about that team of mine. They're my responsibility."

"Defending the Earth. Can't argue with that," he held out his hand to shake Jack's but grabbed it, twisting it to expose his Manipulator before pulling out the sonic.

"Hey, I need that!" Jack complained.

"I can't have you walking around with a time travelling teleport," he flashed it with the sonic, "You could go anywhere, twice. The second time to apologize."

"And what about me? Can you fix that? Will I ever be able to die?"

"Nothing I can do. You're an impossible thing Jack."

He glanced at Evy to see her shaking her head sadly, she couldn't seem to figure out a way to help either despite being one of the inspired. He just laughed as the Doctor's words registered, "Been called that before," he started to leave but turned back to salute them, "Sir. Ma'ams," he began to leave but once again turned back, "But I keep wondering…what about aging? 'Cos I can't die but I keep getting older. The odd little gray hair, you know? What happens if I live for a million years?"

"I really don't know," the Doctor sighed.

"Okay, vanity," he laughed, "Sorry. Yeah, can't help it. Used to be a poster boy when I was a kid back on the Boeshane Pennisula. Tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me. They Face of Boe they called me," the Doctor and Martha looked stunned while Evy just smiled sadly. She had figured it out almost right after meeting Jack, "Hmm, I'll see you."

And then he finally turned and ran off.

"Can't be," Martha shook her head.

"No, definitely not," the Doctor agreed, "No," Martha laughed, "No!" and then he laughed.

Evy just looked on sadly, for the first time unsure of what she could say to the Doctor.

~8~

The Doctor had dropped off Martha at her home, waiting outside the TARDIS, watching the family. Evy tried to tell herself that him waiting outside didn't have anything to do with her waiting inside the TARDIS but she just couldn't seem to shake that feeling. She had kept something monumentally important from him, a number of things really, and he was hurt. She was a Time Lady, he wasn't alone, she was Luna, the sister of his once-best friend, she had been able to read his mind the entire time without him knowing, she had lied to him all that time. She was still lying to him, even now, she hadn't told him she was his Link yet. She sighed, heading over to her room, she might as well pack up…that's the way things were looking, she couldn't imagine the Doctor wanting her to stay there after what she'd done.

So lost in her thoughts was she that she didn't even notice the Doctor walk into the TARDIS and watch her walk off.

She didn't have that much to pack so she was done relatively quickly. She walked back to the main control room, stopping at the door at the top of the gantry when she heard Martha and the Doctor talking, saying goodbye as she and Martha had done earlier.

"…got people to look after," Martha was saying, "They saw half the planet slaughtered and they're devastated. I can't leave them."

"Of course not," the Doctor smiled, "Thank you," Evy smiled softly as he reached out and hugged Martha, "Martha Jones, you saved the world."

"Yes, I did," Martha grinned, stepping back, "I spent a lot of time with you and Evy and if there's one thing I learned, I am good," her smile fell a bit, "Are…are you gonna be alright? I mean, I know Evy didn't tell you she was a Time Lady, but believe me, she has some pretty good reasons…even if I don't understand them all."

The Doctor frowned, he'd learned fairly quickly after Evy had regenerated that both Martha and Jack had been aware she was a Time Lady before him. He admitted to himself, he felt more than a little betrayed by that fact. She'd let him think he was alone all this time…

"Always," he managed to smile, "Yeah."

"Right, then," she kissed him on the cheek before tossing him her phone, "Keep that. 'Cos I'm not having you disappear. If that rings, when that rings, you better come running. Got it?"

"Got it," he agreed.

"I'll see you again, mister," she smiled and walked out of the TARDIS.

The Doctor sighed and leaned against the console.

Evy hesitated a moment before taking a breath and walking down to him.

"Doctor?" she called gently, he looked up at her but said nothing. She sighed, walking over to stand before him, "I'm sorry. I'm  _so_ sorry for not telling you what I was. But I just…I didn't want you to want me to travel with you just because I was a Time Lady and...no, that's not even the whole thing, but you're angry. I know you are, because I can't hear you and you're doing it because you don't  _want_  me to hear you and I know that you only do that when you're angry, not let people know what you're thinking. And I really am sorry, but I just…I…I'm rambling aren't I?" she took a breath to calm down before looking down at her shoes, knowing she wouldn't be able to explain everything to him with her mind being so jumbled, her being so emotional...it seemed this version of herself was quite that, emotional, "I just wanted to say…I understand if you don't want me to stay. Jack's offered me a spot at Torchwood so…I guess…" she trailed, waiting a moment, but he didn't say anything, "I guess I'll just…head out…I'm sorry, again, I just…"

Whatever she was about to say was cut off by what the Doctor did next.

He just reached out and gently pulled her towards him so she was standing almost pressed against him. He hesitated a moment before leaning forward and laying his head on the center of her chest, listening to her twin hearts beating.

To be continued...in...Alone No Longer!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some notes:
> 
> Wow, who would have thought, the Master actually cares about someone more than himself. I always wanted to give him a redeeming quality, love for his family. I do have to say though, I mentioned in The Sound of Drums that the Master targeted the Earth because the Doctor loved it, in his mind his sister had died on Gallifrey due to the Doctor's actions and, now that his world was gone, he wanted to tear the Doctor's apart as well, Earth. Evy actually has a fairly large role in why the Doctor and Master are rivals, even if she doesn't know it. But, we'll have to wait for The End of Time to find out what it is :)
> 
> I know that here the Doctor knows Evy as Luna, knows the Master's 'true' name, as they know each others, that will definitely be explained more during the introduction of River Song what the tradition with revealing names is.
> 
> The song that I picture Evy singing is the Death of Jane Seymour from the Tudors soundtrack, you can youtube it if you haven't heard it. It's just so powerful and I don't understand a word of it so for all I know it could be in Gallifreyan, though it's probably Latin or something :)
> 
> The person I picture as being Evy is Caterina Scorsone. More about the outfit Evy will wear will be in Partners in Crime :)
> 
> It's been near torturously slow in getting Evy and the Doctor to even begin 'getting together' and I have to say, it's not going to happen right off the bat. It'll be only a little less slow in Series 4. BUT! The Doctor knows she's a Time Lady now, can you imagine what will happen? He's gotten to know her as a human, now we'll get to see him get to know her as a Time Lady as she certainly won't be holding back her intelligence or skills as much. They're definitely going to get much closer, in nearly every episode/chapter, feelings will start to develop, especially when he discovers her last secret at the start of Alone No Longer, but which sort of feelings I won't say, and we've got a lot to look forward to with Donna and Jenny and River Song and the return of Rose.


End file.
